5. Will the First Minister make a statement on no cold calling zones in Wales? OAQ(5)0245(FM)

We know that no-cold-calling zones help to make people feel safer in their communities. We know the number of homes covered by zones continues to increase. What we are never sure of is whether no-cold-calling zones include political canvassers.

That’s absolutely true. No-cold-calling zones are popular with residents. When delivering leaflets during half term in areas without no-cold-calling zones, I noticed a large number of houses with ‘no uninvited traders’ stickers on their doors. What can the Welsh Government do to support councils in expanding the areas covered by no-cold-calling zones?

In March 2013, a baseline review established 38,000 homes were covered by the zones. In November 2013, we invited local authorities to bid for funding to support the creation of zones in their areas. I have to say, only 12 authorities requested funding and just under £35,000 was provided. That said, the number of homes covered by zones has now increased to 53,000.

First Minister, I certainly believe that more needs to be done to protect consumers against unsolicited mail and nuisance calls. According to the Office of Fair Trading, these types of scams are estimated to cost the victims around £3.5 billion a year. Can I ask, has the Government considered imposing a levy on the sender of mail, similar to that of the carrier bag charge, of course, allowing that money to be reinvested in different areas such as the forestry industry, protecting rural post offices or helping local authorities to recycle waste?

The difficulty with that is that most of the mail does not originate in Wales. With carrier bags, it’s easy enough; the carrier bags are in the shop in Wales to begin with. It’s an issue that, if we expand it more widely, applies to waste. Most of the waste that comes in to Wales and is generated as waste isn’t actually from Wales to begin with. For me, the answer lies in a UK and European approach to this, because we know that, certainly within the UK, unsolicited mail is still a problem. It’s not as it was because, of course, e-mail is much easier now and, as I’m sure we all know in this Chamber, the scourge of telephone calls by organisations that are outside the telephone preference service. I would be very supportive of any legislation at a UK level that would strengthen the rights of people to avoid these calls in the future, with suitable penalties if needs be.