§ Mr. DickensTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken in connection with the KissLine telephone service; and what steps are being taken to prevent such services from being advertised in children's comics.
§ Mr. LeighThe Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services sets and reviews standards relating to premium rate telephone services through the ICSTIS code of practice. ICSTIS recognises that children are a vulnerable audience for premium rate services and the code of practice contains a number of measures which help to protect children and their parents. Children's services must not, for example, include references to practices that a reasonable parent would not wish his or her child to hear or learn about in this way.
ICSTIS has considered the children's service entitled "Kissing: All the Secrets" and has decided that the content of the service was so mild that the appearance of an advertisement for it in a children's comic did not breach the ICSTIS code of practice.