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1105309

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made an assessment of the effect on levels of nuisance calls of companies requiring consumers to provide their phone numbers when purchasing products or signing up for services.
	tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
	tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
	uin	237188
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>Companies who process personal data and use it to make marketing communications are regulated by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). Both of these are administered and enforced by the Information Commissioner (ICO). If a company collects phone numbers from customers, it must be clear and transparent about how personal data will be handled, and ensure that the data is processed in a way which individuals would expect. Personal data must not be shared with third parties without an appropriate legal basis. Organisations that fail to comply may be subject to enforcement action by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO has the power to impose a monetary penalty on those who break the law.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has not made an official assessment of the effect on levels of nuisance calls of companies requiring consumers to provide their phone numbers when purchasing products or signing up for services.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 02/04/2019 14:31:51 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

837370

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2018
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department's policy is on a ban on phone companies charging a fee for services to protect against nuisance calls.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	126489
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2018 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">The Government and local bodies together are investing £1.7 billion of public money to support vital improvements in broadband services across the UK. Superfast broadband coverage reached 95% of premises in December 2017 – up from 45% in 2010. Many of the premises reached had exchange only lines.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">For any premises not covered by superfast broadband, as confirmed in our announcement in December 2017, we are pushing ahead with our plans for a Universal Service Obligation (USO) so that by 2020 everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to request 10 Megabit per second broadband.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">Within London the Government expects superfast broadband coverage to be provided by the private sector and is encouraging providers to tackle remaining issues including exchange only lines.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Consumers can register their landline and mobile telephone numbers with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which helps prevent them receiving unsolicited nuisance marketing calls. The TPS is a free service and consumers can register at the following address: http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/number_type.html.</ins><br /></p><p><ins class="ministerial">In addition, phone companies provide consumers with a range of services to protect them against nuisance calls. It is for phone companies to decide whether to offer these services for free or for a charge. The Government welcomes services being provided free, or at low cost, for the benefit of consumers.</ins></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 08/02/2018 17:49:33 question first ministerially corrected 20/03/2018 17:32:14 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James previous answer version 40508 answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1060038

	registered interest
	date	12/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is tacking to tackle the level of nuisance calls from foreign call centres.
	tabling member constituency	Brigg and Goole
	tabling member printed	Andrew Percy
	uin	220177
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2019 answer text <p>We have been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and we continue to work on practical solutions to this problem.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In December 2018, we introduced new rules that enable company directors to be held personally liable for the nuisance calls their company makes. These rules apply to international marketing calls made on behalf of UK companies.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We also secured over £600k in the Autumn Budget which we have used to provide vulnerable people with call blocking devices. This measure has protected the most vulnerable in society from nuisance calls scams including those originating from overseas call centres.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 19/02/2019 16:35:36 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	3939 label Biography information for Andrew Percy

1200328

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2020
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government when they last reviewed the regulation of cold calling, taking into account (1) the Consumer Rights Act 2015, (2) the powers of the Office of Information Commissioner, (3) the role of the Financial Conduct Authority, and (4) any other legislation.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
	uin	HL5192
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2020 answer text <p>Government recognises that, for many, nuisance calls are at best a source of irritation, but for the most vulnerable they can be particularly stressful and damaging. We have been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and have taken a number of proactive actions in an attempt to resolve the problem.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) governs unsolicited live or automated direct marketing calls, unsolicited direct marketing emails and SMS text messages. The Information Commissioner is the UK's independent regulator for data protection. DCMS is the sponsoring government department of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). As part of fulfilling its sponsorship role, DCMS continues to work with the ICO to ensure the UK implements its high standards of data protection effectively.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The introduction of the GDPR provided strict guidelines which strengthened the definition of consent for direct marketing. Further to this, we reviewed PECR in January 2019 where we introduced a ban on cold calling relating to pensions. The ban prohibited the selling of pension services by pension providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition, the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 created a private right of redress for consumers who have entered into a contract as a result of misleading actions or aggressive practices as defined in the Regulations. Under these provisions, the consumer has the right to take civil action in the courts to have the contract unwind (so they are put back in the position they were in before the contract was made) and to receive a refund and to seek compensation for damages for any additional losses or harm suffered as a result of the trader’s actions”.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 15/06/2020 12:59:46 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
	tabling member	4159 label Biography information for Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

1134866

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what change there has been in the number of nuisance calls being reported since the banning of cold calls from personal injury firms and pension providers.
	tabling member constituency	Ogmore
	tabling member printed	Chris Elmore
	uin	269771
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>Complaints relating to cold calls from injury firms and pension providers are monitored by the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO). The ICO has reported a drop in complaints of cold calls from personal injury firms and pension providers since the new measures were introduced in September 2018 and January 2019 respectively. Details can be found on their website (https://ico.org.uk).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Cold calling relating to claims management companies, including those that handle personal injury claims, and pensions are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and enforced by the ICO. The ICO and the FCA work together to carry out their respective regulatory responsibilities alongside Government to monitor the impact of cold calling bans.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 03/07/2019 16:20:17 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	4572 label Biography information for Chris Elmore

926555

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2018
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure the introduction of (a) proposals on mandatory caller ID and (b) more effective call-blocking technology.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh West
	tabling member printed	Christine Jardine
	uin	154802
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2018 answer text <p>The Government have already made it mandatory for marketing firms to display their calling line identification (CLI). Ofcom have also adopted a new CLI rule relating to communications providers, which will enable the telephone number of the person making the call to be displayed to the receiver. The new rules become effective in October 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Ofcom have also formed a Strategic Working Group consisting of nine major communications providers, with the aim of exploring technical measures to block and stop unlawful nuisance calls. As of the end of 2017, six of nine working group members were routinely blocking problematic calls at the network level, and/or offering their customers a free service to block or divert problematic calls. More information about this can be found in the report at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/110957/nuisance-calls-joint-action-plan-2018.pdf.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 21/06/2018 10:06:35 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	4634 label Biography information for Christine Jardine

1258696

	registered interest
	date	07/12/2020
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to protect vulnerable people from fraudulent cold calling.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
	tabling member printed	Darren Jones
	uin	126109
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2020 answer text <p>Fraudulent calls can have significant and devastating impacts on people’s lives, particularly the most vulnerable in society. As well as being a nuisance, cold calling is the most common method used to initiate fraud, especially relating to pensions. That’s why the government has taken action to ban pension cold calling.</p><p>HM Treasury has introduced a ban on pension cold calling in order to reduce the chance of individual’s being enticed into fraudulent schemes.</p><p>Further to this, Home Office has collaborated with UK Finance to run the Take Five fraud awareness campaign. The campaign is designed to equip the public to challenge fraudulent approaches with confidence – be they face-to-face, on the telephone or online.</p><p>The Government continues to work on practical solutions to address nuisance and scam calls. DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from nuisance calls and scams, including those originating from overseas.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale question first answered 15/12/2020 15:58:26 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
	tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1300252

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2021
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to help prevent aggressive cold calling of land owners by prospective buyers who contact landowners even though their land is not advertised for sale.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
	tabling member printed	Darren Jones
	uin	164590
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2021 answer text <p>HM Land Registry, as required by statute, includes within the register of title for England and Wales, the name and contact address details for each proprietor of a registered property. This can include email addresses, if the proprietor chooses to provide one, but it does not hold telephone numbers.</p><p>For a prescribed fee, a copy of the register entries that relate to an individual registered property can be obtained. HM Land Registry does not offer free and open access to the data they hold about property ownership. It publishes its commitment to citizens’ privacy rights in a Personal Information Charter, which can be found here:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry/about/personal-information-charter#your-legal-rights</p><p>The Hon Member’s constituents should be aware that they have a number of rights under the UK’s data protection regime, including the right to object to their data being processed and the right to erasure of their data. If the contact numbers are being held by an organisation that processes personal information, that organisation must comply with the data protection principles.</p><p>If anyone is concerned about the handling of their data by any organisation, they should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for further advice or to make a complaint. The ICO can be contacted by telephone on 0303 123 1113 or through their live chat facility: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/live-chat/. Further contact details are on the ICO website: <a href="https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/</a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale question first answered 18/03/2021 18:00:14 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
	tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1278737

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2021
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made with National Trading Standards on supplying call blocking devices to vulnerable people.
	tabling member constituency	Bosworth
	tabling member printed	Dr Luke Evans
	uin	140950
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2021 answer text <p>DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.</p><p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 140951 140952 140953 question first answered 28/01/2021 15:50:49 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
	tabling member	4781 label Biography information for Dr Luke Evans

1278741

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2021
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of introducing director liability for nuisance calls.
	tabling member constituency	Bosworth
	tabling member printed	Dr Luke Evans
	uin	140952
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2021 answer text <p>DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.</p><p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 140950 140951 140953 question first answered 28/01/2021 15:50:49 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
	tabling member	4781 label Biography information for Dr Luke Evans