Up-front fees for aspiring models will be banned

A BAN on agencies charging aspiring models upfront fees was backed by the House of Lords last night.

Business minister Baroness Wilcox said the new regulations were aimed at tackling "exploitation and abuse" carried out by "unscrupulous agencies".

Some agencies preyed on young vulnerable people by charging them fees and then making no attempt to find them work, Lady Wilcox said.

The move would "ban outright the charging of upfront fees to would-be models, who are the target of the large majority of these schemes", she said.

Lady Wilcox added: "These regulations should not be of any concern to reputable modelling agencies, which will, instead, be able to charge commission on actual work found."

She added: "An event will often be organised typically in a town-centre hotel and hard-sell tactics will be deployed to persuade people to part with their money on the promise of work which never materialises and was never going to materialise."