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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

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

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

749619

registered interest
date	07/07/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is for the introduction of legislative proposals on banning pension cold-calling and blocking suspicious pension pot transfers.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	3624
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government takes the threat of pension scams very seriously.</p><p> </p><p>That is why the Government launched a consultation in December 2016 looking at three potential interventions to tackle this issue, including legislating to introduce a ban on cold calling in relation to pensions to help stop fraudsters contacting individuals and legislating to give firms new powers to block transfers. The government will publish a response to the consultation which will set out our intended next steps. This is a complex area that requires careful and detailed consultation with stakeholders.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 3625 question first answered 17/07/2017 13:53:35 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

724097

registered interest
date	25/04/2017
answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	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 Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of nuisance calls.
tabling member constituency	Woking
tabling member printed	Mr Jonathan Lord
uin	71994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2017 answer text <p>We have taken a number of steps to reduce the number of unsolicited direct marketing calls and allow members of the public to identify nuisance callers. They include:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Amending the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations to require all direct marketing callers to provide Caller Line Identification, allowing people to identify direct marketing calls and choose whether to accept them or not.</li><li>Funding the National Trading Standards Scams Team to provide call blocking devices to vulnerable people in all parts of the UK; and</li><li>Encouraging high-tech firms to develop innovative and affordable solutions to tackle nuisance calls.</li></ul> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock question first answered 27/04/2017 08:25:35 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4090 label Biography information for Mr Jonathan Lord

714461

registered interest
date	28/03/2017
answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	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 Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to reduce nuisance telephone calls to elderly or vulnerable residents.
tabling member constituency	Welwyn Hatfield
tabling member printed	Grant Shapps
uin	69529
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2017 answer text <p>We are determined to tackle the problem of nuisance calls, and have allocated £500,000 to the National Trading Standards Scams Team to provide call blocking devices to vulnerable people in all parts of the UK – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>The devices will be rolled out nationwide over the next two years and an evaluation report will be submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on their effectiveness. This is one of a number of measures the Government are taking on to tackle this complex problem. Others included:</p><ul><li>Allocated a further £2 million to high-tech firms to promote the development of innovative and affordable solutions to tackle nuisance calls;</li><li>We will be consulting on giving the Information Commissioner powers to impose Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) of up to £500,000 to company directors for breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, in relation to direct marketing.</li><li>We are working with Treasury on their proposals to ban direct marketing calls in connection with pensions following consultation responses to a package of measures aimed at tackling pension scams.</li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock question first answered 21/04/2017 11:59:18 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps

714057

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	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 Culture, Media and Sport, how many complaints concerning (a) automated and (b) live telesales calls were received by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in 2016-17; how many fines were issued by the ICO against such offending companies in 2016-17; and how many of those fines were for the maximum possible amount.
tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
uin	69166
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2017 answer text <p>In the period from January 2016 to December 2016, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) received (a) 71,192 complaints concerning automated calls and (b) 63,636 complaints concerning live telesales calls.</p><p>In the same period, 22 monetary penalties were issued by the ICO against organisations for breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. No organisation was fined the maximum monetary penalty of £500,000 by the ICO.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock question first answered 12/04/2017 14:36:05 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

708433

registered interest
date	06/03/2017
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timetable is for implementing the Government's proposed ban on cold calling in relation to pension scams.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	66532
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2017 answer text <p>The Government takes the issue of pension scams, and the targeting of vulnerable people through cold calls, very seriously. That is why Government is consulting on a package of measures aimed at tackling these issues. The consultation closed on 13 February, and the Government is currently reviewing responses.</p> answering member constituency Brighton, Kemptown answering member printed Simon Kirby question first answered 09/03/2017 10:41:19 answering member 3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

708437

registered interest
date	06/03/2017
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed ban on cold calling in relation to pension scams for businesses who use lead generators or third party referrals to build client lists.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	66583
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2017 answer text <p>The Government is determined to protect people from being tricked out of their life savings by fraudsters. Currently, almost 11 million pensioners are being targeted annually by cold callers.</p><p> </p><p>The proposed ban, which allows calls where an existing relationship exists or at the express request of the recipient, is intended to allow legitimate businesses to continue to operate. The Government sought evidence on potential impacts on firms as part of its consultation. The consultation closed on 13 February and the Government is reviewing responses.</p> answering member constituency Brighton, Kemptown answering member printed Simon Kirby question first answered 09/03/2017 10:43:10 answering member 3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

686977

registered interest
date	08/02/2017
answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	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 Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 2.289 of Budget 2015, how much of the £3.5 million announced to trial the development and provision of call blocking technology and tackle nuisance calls has been spent or allocated to date.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
tabling member printed	Gill Furniss
uin	63703
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/02/2017 answer text <p>Of the £3.5m package announced by the Chancellor in the March 2015 Budget:</p><p> </p><p>£2.m has been allocated to the nuisance calls competition for innovative solutions to tackle nuisance calls.</p><p> </p><p>£0.5m has been allocated to the National Trading Standards Scams Team to provide call blocking devices to vulnerable people nationwide and report its effects.</p><p> </p><p>£1m has been allocated for other activities to tackle nuisance calls.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock question first answered 20/02/2017 16:19:16 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4571 label Biography information for Gill Furniss