Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife has backed calls for stronger action against nuisance calls following recent research by Which? magazine which found that the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is failing to cut off nuisance calls.Registering with the TPS is the top action people take to reduce unwanted calls, however the new research shows that people registered with TPS still received, on average, double the average number of unsolicited calls than those not signed up. While people registered with the TPS report a decrease in nuisance calls after signing up, they received on average 10 unsolicited calls in the last month. This compares to five on average for those who have not signed up. Around six in 10 (57%) people registered with the TPS are not satisfied with the service.The scale of the nuisance calls problem is laid bare as around eight in ten (85%) people received an unsolicited call in the last month, of these a staggering one in 10 (8%) people received 50 unwanted calls or more in the last month. Six in 10 (62%) people received calls about Payment Protection Insurance and half (48%) from accident claim companies.Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife said:"I have met many people who complain about the frustration of unwanted sales calls and texts which in some cases can cause significant distress and a sense of intrusion into their homes."While some calls will be legitimate and reasonable, the consumer needs to be given back control by having callers identify clearly who they are and what the nature of the call is. They also need to have a genuine option to opt out of future communications that they can be confident in.“This Which? research provides more information about the problems with nuisance calls, and supports the recent OFCOM survey which only scratched the surface of the issue.“Current arrangements make nuisance calls difficult to complain about in that so many companies withhold their number.“We need to make the complaint process simple and straight forward and ensure that penalties for breaching standards lead to change in call patterns.“Few people who are not at home during the day would appreciate the scale of the problem. Pensioners are hardest hit.“The complaint system needs to be easy and straight forward and to one organisation, preferably OFCOM. Marketing companies and businesses should be barred from withholding numbers. This will make it easy for the receiver to complain and to choose whether to answer the telephone or not.“I strongly believe that all numbers should be displayed, unless the organisation has a good reason not to. This should be agreed with OFCOM.“These changes will enable complaints to be made and fines to be brought against those companies responsible. These changes would be a significant step in reporting and fining those responsible for nuisance calls.”