Biography information for Ben Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ben Bradshaw on Justice.

1

Simon Hughes

There has been a significant decrease in referrals to publicly funded family mediation since April 2013 when the legal aid reforms were implemented. This is in part due to fewer people visiting solicitors who previously would have directed clients to mediation.

Before April 2013, attendance at a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM) was a pre-requisite for legal representation for people eligible to obtain public funding. We introduced a statutory MIAM in April 2014 as part of the Children and Families Act. This placed a legal obligation on an applicant to attend a MIAM for the purpose of considering mediation, before being permitted to issue court proceedings in certain private family law matters (children and financial disputes).

Legal aid remains available for mediation (and for legal help with mediation) for those who meet the eligibility criteria. We are keen to encourage mediation as an alternative to court both for those eligible for public funding and for privately funded cases.

We are aware that a small number of mediation services have closed or are in difficulty. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is constantly monitoring the situation to make sure there is sufficient provision for client access to mediation services. While a decline in demand is a contributory factor in mediation service closures, another significant factor is poor and unsustainable business models. There is some evidence that a number of the mediation services which have closed following legal aid reforms were vulnerable to closure before the reforms took effect.

I have convened a Family Mediation Task Force, chaired by David Norgrove, which has considered many of the issues raised by the Member of Parliament for Exeter, including how to reverse the fall in referrals and engage the second party in the mediation process, and incentivising mediators and lawyers to work in partnership to support clients through the resolution of their dispute in compliance with the new legislation. A number of short-term financial options have been considered as well as the long term view for the future of dispute resolution services.

The Taskforce report will be published imminently. The Government will respond to the report in due course.