Patricia Gibson, MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, has brought forward a Bill at Westminster seeking a change in the law to tackle nuisance calls.
The Unsolicited Marketing Communications (Company Directors): Ten Minute Rule Bill, which will have its second reading on November 18, proposes to hold company bosses personally responsible for nuisance calls, by giving the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) the power to take action against the named directors of companies found to have made unsolicited marketing calls in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
Currently the ICO only has the power to impose fines on companies rather than named company directors, enabling directors to escape paying the fines by closing down the company and setting up a new one – a practice known as “phoenixing”. Of the 22 com panies that have had fines imposed by the ICO since 2015, only six have paid or partially paid the fine, while the remaining 16 have not paid the fines at all or have gone into liquidation.