McLeod highlights cold-calling scam

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> SNP MSP for the South of Scotland Aileen McLeod has condemned cold-callers for targeting households claiming Scottish Government legislation states they must replace their existing heating system with a new A-rated boiler as Housing Minister Margaret Burgess today (Friday) assured householders that there are no such requirements.
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> Aileen said:
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> “Nuisance callers profiteering from the Scottish Government’s efforts to promote energy efficiency and support people to make their homes more energy efficient is totally unacceptable. Pressurising householders to replace heating systems when they don’t need to replace is even worse.
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> “Home Energy Scotland will never call households that haven’t asked them to call and there is no legislation requiring anyone to replace or upgrade their heating system.
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> “Unsolicited calls not only undermine the trust and support for the energy efficiency sector, but they also cause many householders to feel intimidated and distressed.
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> “The best course of action, if you are thinking about improving the energy efficiency of your home, is to ignore cold callers and speak to Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282. I would also urge people to make complaints to the Information Commissioner on 0303 123 1113 if they receive nuisance calls so action can be taken.”
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> Notes to Editors
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> The Home Energy Scotland hotline (0808 808 2282) offers free impartial advice and support, making sure households know what support they are entitled to.
> We have allocated over half a billion pounds since 2009 on a raft of Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency programmes and this year a record budget of £119m is being made available for fuel poverty and energy efficiency. Since 2008, more than 900,000 energy efficiency measures have been installed in homes in Scotland, nearly 1 in 3 of all households (over 700,000) have received measures.
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> Ofcom’s last Nuisance Calls Joint Action Plan update (Dec 2014) includes a combined report of the enforcement action being taken by Ofcom and the ICO. It also details a significant amount of other combined and co-ordinated work streams that are underway to tackle nuisance calls more generally, including the work they are undertaking with government, other regulators, industry and consumer groups such as Which?
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> Anyone concerned about nuisance calls should contact the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) which is responsible for the regulation of unsolicited live calls, recorded calls and texts and can take action against companies. The ICO helpline number is 0303 123 1113.
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> The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) handled over 180,000 concerns relating to nuisance calls and texts from across the UK during the course of the financial year 2014-15. Ofcom has fined eight companies a total of £1.768m for abandoned and silent calls since January 2012.
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