“This change will make it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Office to take action against offenders and send a clear message to others that harassing consumers with nuisance calls or texts is just not on. We’re also going to look at whether the powers the ICO have to hold to account board level executives for such behaviour are sufficient or we need to do more.”

Nuisance calls and texts remains a significant concern for consumers – in some cases they are not only annoying but can also cause distress especially among vulnerable people in society. The latest data and research shows that:

• Around four out of five people surveyed by consumer group Which? said they are regularly cold-called at home, with a third of them left feeling intimidated.
• There were 15,642 complaints related to nuisance calls and texts made to the ICO in November 2014, of which solar panel accounted for 2,377, whilst for PPI the figure was 1,830.
• In total there were over 175,000 complaints related to nuisance calls and texts made to the ICO for 2014.