Mike Crockart MP has urged the Scottish Minister to take action to protect the most vulnerable in Scotland from nuisance calls.
Speaking during Scottish Questions in the House of Commons, Mike asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, to support his campaign to protect the most vulnerable from nuisance and scam calls.
A trial currently being carried out by COSLA and Trading Standards in Scotland has placed call blockers in the homes of 350 Scottish residents and to date over 100,000 nuisance phone calls have been blocked. The interim report of the project found that older and vulnerable Scottish residents are currently receiving an average of 46 nuisance calls per month and the number of nuisance calls has increased by 40% over the last 19 months – an annualised increase of 26%.
Commenting, Mr Crockart said:
“Over the last two years we have had a number of pilots which have been run by local councils and Trading Standards. These pilots have shown that call blocking devices can have a huge impact on the lives of vulnerable people. Currently 400 Scots have call blockers installed in their homes and over 100,000 calls nuisance calls have been blocked.
“It is estimated that there are up to 413,000 vulnerable Scots whose lives would be significantly improved by the installation of a call blocker. The time for trials and pilots is over, what we need now is a co-ordinated national scheme to protect every vulnerable person, not just 400.
“As well as calling on the Scottish Minister to take action, I met the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries to discuss this matter and he agreed that action is needed. I am looking forward to working with him and the APPG to make sure that the most vulnerable people across the UK are protected from nuisance and scam calls."
Speaking during Scottish Questions in the House of Commons, Mike asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, to support his campaign to protect the most vulnerable from nuisance and scam calls.
A trial currently being carried out by COSLA and Trading Standards in Scotland has placed call blockers in the homes of 350 Scottish residents and to date over 100,000 nuisance phone calls have been blocked. The interim report of the project found that older and vulnerable Scottish residents are currently receiving an average of 46 nuisance calls per month and the number of nuisance calls has increased by 40% over the last 19 months – an annualised increase of 26%.
Commenting, Mr Crockart said:
“Over the last two years we have had a number of pilots which have been run by local councils and Trading Standards. These pilots have shown that call blocking devices can have a huge impact on the lives of vulnerable people. Currently 400 Scots have call blockers installed in their homes and over 100,000 calls nuisance calls have been blocked.
“It is estimated that there are up to 413,000 vulnerable Scots whose lives would be significantly improved by the installation of a call blocker. The time for trials and pilots is over, what we need now is a co-ordinated national scheme to protect every vulnerable person, not just 400.
“As well as calling on the Scottish Minister to take action, I met the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries to discuss this matter and he agreed that action is needed. I am looking forward to working with him and the APPG to make sure that the most vulnerable people across the UK are protected from nuisance and scam calls."
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