Professional Standards Authority Voluntary Register of Counsellors

Any organisation holding a voluntary register of counsellors can apply to the Professional Standards Authority to have the register accredited, but it costs £12,000 for an organisation to submit an application, and if the application is approved the organisation then has to pay an annual fee of £9,000 per year.

Is this a credible independent system or is there a risk that in these days of budget cuts only the largest organisations will be able to buy their way to accreditation by the Professional Standards Authority.