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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

831129

registered interest
date	26/01/2018
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 recent steps his Department has taken to prevent cold calls from call centres based abroad being routed through UK phone lines to appear as domestic telephone numbers.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Ged Killen
uin	125137
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2018 answer text <p>The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) independently regulate the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, the framework which governs unsolicited direct marketing and nuisance calls. Unsolicited calls coming from beyond our jurisdiction remain a concern, although the ICO has not identified any noticeable or recent increase in volume in respect of this issue.</p><p> </p><p>To help tackle the problem, the ICO engages with the Do Not Call Forum of the Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network, which includes overseas regulators with responsibility for tackling nuisance calls. The ICO works with other members, including the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and regulators in South Africa and Australia, to drive forward co-ordinated actions, including sharing relevant intelligence. They are also exploring with local trade associations, representing call centres based in India and other countries, ways to work with relevant authorities to tackle the problem at source.</p><p> </p><p>The Government have already forced companies to display their number when calling, and made it easier for the ICO to prosecute those in breach of direct marketing legislation. We continue to review the ICO's powers of enforcement, and will consider what we are able to do to assist them in tackling this problem.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 05/02/2018 16:27:32 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	4672 label Biography information for Ged Killen

834844

registered interest
date	01/02/2018
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, how many complaints relating to (a) automated and (b) live telesales calls have been received by the Information Commissioner's Office since 2016; how many fines were issued by that Office against offending companies in that same period; and how many of those fines were for the maximum possible amount.
tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
uin	126266
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2018 answer text <p>The Information Commissioner's Office is responsible for investigating concerns raised about and taking enforcement action against automated and live telesales calls. The Information Commissioner's Office publish these statistics in their annual report at https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-information/annual-operational-reports-201617/unlawful-marketing-reports-and-concerns/ and on their website at https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 06/02/2018 15:58:15 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

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

964647

registered interest
date	03/09/2018
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 recent steps the Government has taken to reduce the number and frequency of nuisance phonecalls.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff West
tabling member printed	Kevin Brennan
uin	169904
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2018 answer text <p>The government acknowledge that unwanted marketing calls are a source of annoyance and inconvenience for consumers. For the most vulnerable, however, nuisance calls can cause extreme anxiety and distress. We have been clear that there is no place for such calls in society.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To help reduce this problem, we legislated in the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 to further restrict marketing calls from claims management services and pensions providers. We have also recently concluded a consultation on taking tougher action against directors whose companies are responsible for breaches of legislation in relation to nuisance calls and electronic messages. We are currently analysing the consultation responses and will publish a government response in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James grouped question UIN 169909 question first answered 06/09/2018 11:02:23 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1400 label Biography information for Kevin Brennan

964648

registered interest
date	03/09/2018
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 recent assessment he has made of the effect of nuisance phonecalls on consumers.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff West
tabling member printed	Kevin Brennan
uin	169909
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2018 answer text <p>The government acknowledge that unwanted marketing calls are a source of annoyance and inconvenience for consumers. For the most vulnerable, however, nuisance calls can cause extreme anxiety and distress. We have been clear that there is no place for such calls in society.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To help reduce this problem, we legislated in the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 to further restrict marketing calls from claims management services and pensions providers. We have also recently concluded a consultation on taking tougher action against directors whose companies are responsible for breaches of legislation in relation to nuisance calls and electronic messages. We are currently analysing the consultation responses and will publish a government response in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James grouped question UIN 169904 question first answered 06/09/2018 11:02:23 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1400 label Biography information for Kevin Brennan

985685

registered interest
date	11/10/2018
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, when his Department will respond to the consultation on taking tougher action against directors whose companies are responsible for breaches of legislation in relation to nuisance calls and electronic messages.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	178224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2018 answer text <p>The Government's consultation which sought views on tackling nuisance calls and messages by taking action against rogue directors, was open for 12-weeks from 30 May to 21 August 2018. We have analysed the responses to the consultation and will be publishing the Government's response shortly.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 18/10/2018 16:36:52 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

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

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

1111144

registered interest
date	10/04/2019
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, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2019 to Question 220177 on Nuisance Calls, how many call blocking devices the Department plans to deliver to vulnerable people in (a) the UK and (b) Kent.
tabling member constituency	Canterbury
tabling member printed	Rosie Duffield
uin	243547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>In March 2017 DCMS provided a grant of £500,000 to National Trading Standards to provide over 1500 call blocking devices to vulnerable people.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to continuing this work. The Chancellor announced in the 2018 Autumn Budget that the National Trading Standards will receive further funding to continue rolling out devices to vulnerable people.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has agreed to provide up to £640,000 for this project. The National Trading Standards are currently undertaking a procurement process for a supplier for the call blocking devices. We are not yet therefore able to provide details of precisely how many devices this further funding will deliver.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 23/04/2019 10:53:46 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	4616 label Biography information for Rosie Duffield