To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the practice of telephone selling by telecommunications companies.

While no such assessment has been made, all companies making sales calls must comply with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003. The PECR does not allow telephone sales calls to a consumer, whose number is registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), or if they have previously advised the caller not to make further calls. Companies using predictive diallers to generate calls are also required to comply with Ofcom regulations regarding silent and abandoned calls. Companies found in breach of such regulations can face penalties of up to £2 million.

As noted in our recently published strategy paper 'Connectivity, Content and Consumers: Britain's digital platform for growth', we are exploring further options to tackle nuisance calls including telephone sales calls. Further details about our proposals is at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/connectivity-content-and-consumers-britains-digital-platform-for-growth