§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the provisions and requirements of the Telephone Preference Service apply to the telephoning of electors by political parties and elected representatives; and, if so, in which respects. [HL5304]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Lord Filkin)Yes. Under the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2093), a political party or an elected representative telephoning an elector for his or her support or a donation is required to ensure that any numbers that are on the Telephone Preference Service list are not called, unless the elected representative or political party has the elector's prior consent to do so. In addition, the elected representative or political party would need to ensure that anyone who had previously told the caller that they did not wish to hear from the elected representative or political party again was not called again, irrespective of whether that elector's number appears on the Telephone Preference Service list. The regulations do not affect an elected representative's ability to telephone their constituents about other matters, such as to give information relating to an inquiry.