The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Nuisance Calls, chaired by Liberal Democrat MP Mike Crockart, makes 16 recommendations calling on telecoms companies to pilot new ways of blocking specific phone numbers and for caller identification to be provided to consumers totally free on all marketing calls.

The APPG’s report precedes the publication of communication minister Ed Vaizey’s own action plan, expected to be published tomorrow (31 October), while a separate report with regards to nuisance calls by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is due in early November.

Stephen Dakin, managing director of software company Pinesoft, which gave evidence to the APPG and has contributed to roundtable discussions with Vaizey, says the APPG report is a “missed opportunity” to propose measures that government and industry could use to tackle nuisance SMS messages.

Dakin continues: “Even though the evidence given to the MPs at the All-Party Group illustrated how both texts and calls represent equally severe problems for consumers, not one of the report’s 16 recommendations clearly outlined how texts could be handled.

“If those individuals engaged in illicit marketing perceive that more resources are being dedicated to stopping nuisance calls to landlines and mobiles than to texts, they are going to simply pay attention to using spam SMS messages that allows you to continue their activities, while avoiding their falling foul of any new prohibitions or penalties.”

Pinesoft’s Mobile Preference Service tool, which permits consumers to opt out of selling texts, is among a variety of technologies being checked out by MPs. The Direct Marketing Association director of public affairs Caroline Roberts agrees that the APPG’s recommendations “didn’t really address [texts]”.

While Roberts says the DMA supports of a few of the group’s proposals, including reducing the load of proof had to take legal action against nuisance callers, she also questions the necessity for one more co-regulatory body to take a look at the difficulty – an approach recommended by the APPG, and which Vaizey is likewise believed to favour.

“I think the matter is we’ve almost got too many bodies,” Roberts says, adding: “A real mish-mash of individuals have gotten a stake during this.”

The Information Commissioner’s Office and Ofcom have already split regulatory powers inside the area of nuisance calls, reporting to the Ministry of Justice and the dep. for Culture, Media and Sport respectively. The Telephone Preference Service, run by the DMA, also acts as a self-regulatory body for telemarketers under licence from Ofcom.

Many of the recommendations proposed by the APPG are included within an individual Member’s Bill, authored by Crockart and consumer association Which?, as a consequence of have its second reading in Parliament on Friday (1 November).

It is unlikely to become law without government support, but Crockart says: “All recommendations are easily achievable and if implemented will improve compliance, make reporting easier and more suitable, protect and empower consumers, and improve the regulator’s capacity to do so.”