Better controls on nuisance calls
Receiving unsolicited telephone calls has become an infuriating but inevitable part of our daily lives. They are intrusive, seldom of any use and, in many cases, made with the sole intention of ripping people off. This situation has become normalised and I want to see something done about that. There needs to be better controls and more effective penalties.
Already the Government has acted, bring in aspects of the latest Finance Bill to regulate the use of cold calling for insurance claims and PPI. The Government has worked with the sector to bring the annoying practice of cold calling for these purposes to an end with the legislation coming into force later this year.
More must be done and I am introducing a Ten-minute Rule Bill into Parliament this week. These allow Members of Parliament to put forward suggestions relating to any issue that they think needs better legislation. Mine will be to look at better controls and more effective penalties for nuisance calls. Over one hundred fellow MPs from all parties have so far contacted me expressing their support.
Recent news reports have shown the what happens when our personal data is mined for marketing purposes. When our phone numbers are mined from our online profiles or when we are phoned up asking for data, the issues are the same as in the online world.
There have been many serious consequences when people are convinced that the caller is genuinely offering them a great deal or that their computer is infected with a virus. That helpful person at the end of the line will sort it all out for them if they just give them access. There have been cases where huge amounts of money have been stolen in this way. Once they have identified that someone believes their story they will not stop until the cash has run out. These callers are plausible and many people who are otherwise canny have been caught in their unscrupulous operation.
There are now examples of companies that are promising to reduce the number of unsolicited calls one receives as long as a subscription is paid. This can cost up to ninety pounds a month and is simple extortion with no tangible benefit to the consumer. Businesses suffer when every phone is called in an office with the same message and important helpline and emergency numbers get clogged up.
The sales industry is brought into disrepute by this. The sales sector is vitally important and many people in Stirling work in it, my all party group on sales will focus on ethical sales, but the reputational damage done by bad salespeople on the phone is a real problem.
Half of us will have received a nuisance call within the last month and many people are being contacted daily. It is estimated that seventy million unsolicited calls are being made every year and the number is growing.
We need more effective penalties and potentially fines for the directors of companies who make these calls. We need a tighter definition of what a nuisance call is in law and we need a stricter set of regulations on the buying and selling of phone numbers.
As always, I am interested in hearing your stories about this issue.
Please get in touch by email to stephen.kerr.mp@ parliament.uk.