The Skills Council for Financial Services has bowed to pressure from brokers and put its subscription fees under review.

The review follows complaints from brokers that the sliding scale of subscription fees was unfair.

Under the present subscription fee structure, brokers with 21 staff, for example, pay £500 while brokers with 20 staff only pay £100.

"I feel this [subscription] method does not sit well with common sense," said one training and competence expert.

He argued that the current fee structure could be pricing a large part of the broking community out of Skills Council membership.

It is estimated that around 95% of UK brokers have less than 50 staff.

The Skills Council confirmed this week that it will review its subscription fees.

"The pricing structure is up for debate - we've realised that the current structure won't work," said Skills Council for Financial Services chief executive David Jackman.

Suggested alternatives to the current fee structure include a basic fee of £100 plus £5 per staff member over ten.

Last month, the Skills Council launched its national qualifications and standards framework, which has received the backing of several leading insurers, including Norwich Union.

Training carried out by the CII will be incorporated into the Skills Council framework.

The CII recently launched three new insurance qualifications based on modular training: the Certificate of Insurance (Cert CII), the Diploma in Insurance (Dip CII), and the Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII).

The CII is set to add to the 46 modules with modules focusing on travel and warranty products.

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