Telephone Services: Unsolicited Goods and Services

Tony Baldry
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many £50,000 fines have been issued to companies using silent calls to contact consumers;

(2) what estimates his Department has received from Ofcom of the levels of silent calls made by companies; and how the levels have changed over the last 12 months.

Margaret Hodge
The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.