I probably won't have much time to battle junk mail this year, but I've made a start – I had a moan to my local MP about the consultation on the future of the electoral register and the website of the All-Party Group on Junk Mail.

The All-Party Group on junk mail no longer exists. You won't miss it.

The Offence of Leaving Litter only applies to leaving litter on public open spaces, which leaves us in the hands of the junk mail industry.

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles wants local councils to spend less time and money on weekly town hall Pravdas that and up in the bin. Hear, hear!

A private members bill aimed at tackling postal scams has been binned. Rather than using a sledgehammer to crack a nut the problem can be solved by raising awareness.

Government has launched a consultation on its proposal to repeal the Pedlars Act 1871 and 1881. The Local Government Association warns that scrapping the Act may encourage cold callers.

Yell has been renamed 'Hibu'. Meanwhile, the Office of Fair Trading has concluded that the Yellow Pages directory no longer has a monopoly on 'classified directory advertising'.

The Direct Marketing Association has made another attempt to quantify how much direct marketing contributes to the UK economy. The lobby group got more than what it bargained for.

A new opt-out website for unaddressed junk mail that was to be launched three months ago has been built. However, a Freedom of Information request has learned the website is unlikely to go live any time soon.

A recommendation by the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee to abolish the edited electoral register has received a lukewarm response from Government; it is considering the finely balanced arguments.