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Debate on Nuisance Calls - Commons Main Chamber

27/1/2014

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Today, Thursday 16 January, a debate on the subject of “Nuisance Calls” is scheduled for the main commons chamber. It is the second item of backbench business to be fitted into a slot between roughly 11:30 and 17:00, and so is likely to begin at some time between 14:00 and 15:00.
The debate will be opened by Mike Crockart MP, who is likely to repeat his familiar call for revisions to the terms of the existing failed regulations, as proposed by Which?
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Click to view briefing
The fair telecoms campaign has provided a briefing to all MPs likely to contribute to the debate, and also to the Minister who will reply.
Whilst supporting the obvious need to tidy up anomalies in the existing regulations, we suggest that much more radical action is required for there to be any significant change to the situation.

The debate may be viewed (live or on replay) on BBC Parliament, or at any time using this link to Parliament TV.
The proceedings will be published in Hansard on Friday morning.
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View debate on Parliament TV
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Reaction to Culture Media and Sport Committee report - “Nuisance Calls”

13/12/2013

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Our reaction to the Culture Media and Sport Committee report - “Nuisance Calls” is published here, to accompany publication of the report itself today.
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cms_report_reaction.pdf
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In summary, we are pleased to see many of our comments, as presented in evidence, noted in the report. We welcome the limited recommendations, but are concerned that they do not include the radical steps required to get to grips with this unacceptable and growing problem.

The Inquiry and the Report
  • Comments from the fair telecoms campaign are referred to in the body of the report.
  • The written evidence submitted by the fair telecoms campaign (3 documents) is reproduced in the body of the report at pages Ev 43 to Ev 49.
  • A transcript of the oral evidence presented is found at page Ev 1
  • Presentation of the oral evidence may be seen on parliamentlive.tv
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click to view
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Avoiding Nuisance Calls

26/11/2013

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Not all telephone calls that we receive are welcome - if we wish to remain open to contact by telephone we cannot avoid this fact of life. Some calls are rightly classified as simply "Nuisance". There are laws and regulations intended to prevent the practice of making Nuisance Calls - that is what needs to be stopped. Sadly, poor enforcement action means a low level of compliance.

Our view is that very little is needed in terms of new legislation to address this problem - simply a few tweaks, the need for which has been accepted. The focus must be on measures to achieve compliance, including proper regulation and enforcement action by those best placed to achieve compliance. These are the respective sectoral regulators, not Ofcom and the ICO.
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← This article indicates a welcome move in response to a demand we made some time ago and have been repeating at every available opportunity →
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See "Other bodies hold specific powers which could be used"

The ineffectiveness of Ofcom and the ICO, along with the mistaken belief that the TPS is some type of "service", as opposed to simply a means of indicating a widely-disrespected preference, leads many people to seek to take avoidance action themselves.

Not only is this unnecessary, apart from the situation of those who wish or need to have a call filtering device, it can also lead to worthless effort or expenditure. There are companies who seek to exploit the problem of nuisance calls for financial gain, in many cases overstating the likely benefit of what they offer and in some cases being engaged in outright scams.
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Whilst TPS Limited is not itself wholly blameless in respect of improperly raised expectations, it publishes a list of those known to be engaged in offering products and services that are likely to be misrepresented.



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We recently appeared in a broadcast of the BBC Wales series X-Ray which covered both a scam service and an ineffective blocking device. Both items are now available to view in a playlist →

Our stated conclusions are that:
  • Many companies exploit people's vain hope that there is something that they themselves can do about nuisance calls.
  • The only way to deal with the problem is for proper standards of conduct and compliance with the law to be enforced by those able to undertake such action.

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Click to listen to item from Money Box
Subsequent to this original blogging, we appeared in a review of action taken in 2013 by Money Box listeners. This included a number of (sometimes entertaining) ways of dealing with Nuisance Calls - perhaps in the hope of avoiding recurrence. The serious point is the further demonstration of the degree of annoyance suffered, as shown by the lengths that people will go to in an attempt to avoid Nuisance Calls.

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Evidence to the Culture Media and Sport Committee Nuisance Calls inquiry

23/8/2013

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Last month we reported Two Inquiries into Nuisance Calls.

The fair telecoms campaign has presented initial written evidence to the inquiry by the Culture Media and Sport Committee of parliament into Nuisance Telephone Calls and Texts. (see below)

We have also been invited to submit oral evidence to the Committee. This will take place in a session at 10:30 on Tuesday 3 September 2013. The proceedings will be shown live on the web, at http://www.parliamentlive.tv, and will be available to watch later there and on BBC Parliament.

All evidence, written and oral, will be published by the committee itself - see the inquiry webpage.
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culture_media_and_sport_inquiry_into_nuisance_telephone_calls_and_text_messages.pdf
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TWO inquiries into Nuisance Calls

14/7/2013

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click to read
On Thursday (11 July) we commented on the amount of NOISE being made about Nuisance Calls.
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click to read announcement
On Friday (12 July) the Culture Media and Sport (Select) Committee announced an inquiry into Nuisance Calls.
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click to read article
On Sunday (14 July) the Sunday Post confirmed that the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuisance Calls would also be conducting an inquiry into the matter.
(Note our comment at the foot of the piece.)
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We have issued a release outlining our probable contributions to these inquiries.
two_inquiries.pdf
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Nuisance Calls - Ofcom again chooses not to use its powers

17/5/2013

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Following research, as part of a (in)Action Plan, Ofcom again chooses not to use its powers, whilst claiming "Ofcom is using the full extent of its legal powers"
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more_ofcom_inaction.pdf
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Ofcom fails to deal with Silent Calls

1/5/2013

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The Ofcom announcement, last Thursday, of a financial penalty being imposing on Talk Talk was entitled "Ofcom takes action against abandoned and silent calls".
We challenge this statement by Ofcom, on the basis that it is not taking action, using its powers, in respect of all the other Silent Calls made, and reported to it, over the last 7 years.
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ofcom_fails_mr.pdf
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ofcom_fails_br.pdf
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Debate on Nuisance Calls - 28 Feb 2013

3/3/2013

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Click on the images to read and watch the debate, and to see responses and related media coverage.

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Watch on parliament TV
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Read at TheyWorkForYou
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Comments and briefing ahead of the debate

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Our briefing following the debate
nuisance_debate_-_response.pdf
File Size: 434 kb
File Type: pdf
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the Sunday Telegraph covers the story
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the Sunday Telegraph investigates the culprits
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ITV online News Wales covers the story
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BBC online News Wales covers the story
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Nuisance calls - Ofcom has an action plan, but it misses the point

8/1/2013

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ofcom_action_plan.pdf
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The Ofcom "action plan" to deal with Silent Calls fails to address its unacceptable policy - which tolerates them!
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Silent Calls - Ofcom fines npower £60,000

6/12/2012

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ofcom_npower_fine.pdf
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Following sight of the Ofcom news release and coverage based on that, a further briefing has been issued.
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ofcom_npower_briefing.pdf
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