Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to reform the Telephone Preference Service; and what plans his Department has to give better protection and more choice to people who receive nuisance telephone calls.

There are no plans to reform the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) itself, as research published by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) on 23 July 2014 has shown that TPS registration reduces unsolicited marketing calls by a third. Whilst also having the wider benefit of reducing all types of nuisance calls by an average of a third.

Legislative and non-legislative measures were outlined in our Nuisance Calls Action Plan of 30 March: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled . The plan includes Ofcom and the communications providers’ progress in enabling calls to be traced, where the calling number is withheld or deliberately disguised, as it is currently difficult for ICO and Ofcom to take action where the calling number is unknown.

Consent and lead generation issues are also being considered by the Taskforce led by Which?, as consent can be unwittingly given to companies, resulting in calls to TPS registered consumers. We look forward to receiving the results from this Taskforce by the end of the year.

We have additionally ensured that Ofcom can now share information with ICO with greater ease, about the conduct of companies who may be breaching the TPS by making unsolicited marketing calls. We are also soon to consult to lower the legal threshold. This will make it easier for ICO to take enforcement action for a breach of the regulations, including the need to ensure compliance with the TPS.