Steps being taken over nuisance telephone calls

I KNOW many of my constituents are becoming increasingly annoyed by how many unsolicited nuisance telephone calls they are receiving at home trying to sell any number of unwanted things from insurance protection to a new mobile phone.

Registering with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is supposed to stop these calls but it seems the number of calls many of us are receiving is increasing as the months go by.

I thought I’d write to let you know what the Government is doing about it.

Ed Vaizey MP, the Minister for Communications at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport met the TPS, the Information Commissioners’ Office and Ofcom in July. The meeting discussed how the current system can be improved and enforcement made more effective. They will be meeting again this autumn to agree the next steps.

Most telecom service providers offer a range of services that can help, including Calling Line Identification Display, Automatic Call Rejection and Choose to Refuse.

There are also a range of other devices available commercially that can help to block unwanted calls.

It would be a good idea to look into these ideas if you are anxious about these calls.

The Telephone Preference is a free service and I urge anyone who has not yet done so, to sign up for it here: http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/number_type.html

I will be following this matter closely and am determined to make sure that the TPS has the teeth it needs to prosecute companies who continue to ring up households who have expressly opted out.