Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to tackle unsolicited mail.

The Government has made sure that there are preference services in place for anyone who does not want to receive unsolicited mail.

There are currently two ‘opt out’ services run by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA): the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) will stop addressed mail and the “Your Choice” preference service will stop unaddressed mailings. More information about these schemes can be found on the MPS website:

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/www.mpsonline.org.uk or by telephoning 0845 703 4599 (MPS) or 020 7291 3300 (Your Choice). These are separate opt-outs as some people may want to stop one or other type of mailing rather than both.

Royal Mail also runs its own door-to-door ‘opt out’ service, though this will only stop those unaddressed mailings delivered by Royal Mail, around a quarter of all such mail. More information about Royal Mail’s service can be found on its website (www.royalmail.com) or by phoning 01865 796964.

By registering with all three services, consumers can stop the vast majority of unsolicited mail being received. Registration is free.

To stop advertising mail from those companies with which there is some kind of direct relationship (for example, supermarkets or department stores, where the customer has a loyalty card and so on), consumers will need to contact those companies directly and ask for their personal details to be removed from direct mailing lists.