§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) whether he intends to introduce further measures to curb the practice known as telephone cold calling;
(2) how many representations he has received since 1 January 1988 regarding the sale practice known as telephone cold calling; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ForthMy Department has received 39 complaints from consumers about unsolicited telephone sales calls since 1 January 1988. The Office of Fair Trading, the Office of Telecommunications and local authority trading standards departments have also received complaints about this practice. The British Direct Marketing Association is planning to introduce a telephone preference service which would enable telephone subscribers to choose to have their details excluded from lists used by direct selling organisations. Discussions about the form of such a service are taking 471W place with the Office of Fair Trading and other interested Government bodies. My Department is keeping in touch with these developments.