Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the recent increase in the number of parties representing themselves in court in private family law cases.
Answered by Simon Hughes
Litigants in person have always been a feature of the justice system. Data on disposals in the financial year prior to April 2013 indicate that in 64% of privatefamilylaw cases there was at least one party without recorded legal representation.
We are closely monitoring the performance of the family justice system. The number of family cases where one or more parties present themselves is published in Courts Statistics Quarterly (www.gov.uk/government/collections/court-statistics-quarterly).
Judges are trained to help people with no legal representation and are accustomed to doing so, including by explaining procedures and what is expected of the parties. We have taken steps to help people who either want to represent themselves in court or have to do so, which include publishing a revised guide for separating parents and more training for judges. The link to the guide is:
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetLeaflet.do?court_leaflets_id=2756
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to inform the public of the benefits of mediation.
Answered by Simon Hughes
We are delivering a wide-ranging programme of activity to improve public awareness and to make sure that advice agencies are providing the correct information about family mediation. This includes being very clear that legal aid is still available for mediation, and for legal support for mediation.
We have taken action to update and improve information on our own websites and Gov.UK and we have included an article about mediation in the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) newsletter - aimed at advisors - to clarify that legal aid does remain available for mediation.
We have also written to the mediation profession setting out some of the work we are doing and we continue to work very closely with the Family Mediation Council (FMC) to raise the profile of the court and that of the profession. This has principally included funding and working with the FMC to develop an improved website which can be used as a public signpost to mediation and information services, and developing a marketing ‘toolkit' to support mediators in promoting their services to prospective clients.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to inform the public of the availability of legal aid for family mediation.
Answered by Simon Hughes
We are delivering a wide-ranging programme of activity to improve public awareness and to make sure that advice agencies are providing the correct information about family mediation. This includes being very clear that legal aid is still available for mediation, and for legal support for mediation.
We have taken action to update and improve information on our own websites and Gov.UK and we have included an article about mediation in the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) newsletter - aimed at advisors - to clarify that legal aid does remain available for mediation.
We have also written to the mediation profession setting out some of the work we are doing and we continue to work very closely with the Family Mediation Council (FMC) to raise the profile of the court and that of the profession. This has principally included funding and working with the FMC to develop an improved website which can be used as a public signpost to mediation and information services, and developing a marketing ‘toolkit' to support mediators in promoting their services to prospective clients.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of introducing a free non-means tested initial mediation information and assessment meeting on the take-up of mediation.
Answered by 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.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the reasons for recent changes in the provision of not-for-profit mediation.
Answered by 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.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to address changes in the number of mediation providers in England and Wales.
Answered by 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.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the causes of changes in the number of parties representing themselves in court in private law family cases.
Answered by Simon Hughes
Litigants in person have always been a feature of the justice system. Data on disposals in the financial year prior to April 2013 indicate that in 64% of privatefamilylaw cases there was at least one party without recorded legal representation.
We are closely monitoring the performance of the family justice system. The number of family cases where one or more parties present themselves is published in Courts Statistics Quarterly (www.gov.uk/government/collections/court-statistics-quarterly).
Judges are trained to help people with no legal representation and are accustomed to doing so, including by explaining procedures and what is expected of the parties. We have taken steps to help people who either want to represent themselves in court or have to do so, which include publishing a revised guide for separating parents and more training for judges. The link to the guide is:
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetLeaflet.do?court_leaflets_id=2756
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the role of the professional not-for-profit mediation sector in increasing the take-up of mediation by separating and divorcing couples.
Answered by 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.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of the commercial solicitor sector and the professional not-for-profit National Family Mediation network in ensuring a future increase in take-up of family mediation by divorcing couples.
Answered by 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.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information (a) his Department and (b) HM Tribunals Service hold on the socio-economic status of people (i) prosecuted and convicted for television licence evasion and (ii) imprisoned for non-payment of a fine for television licence evasion.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
No published information is available. The information in the table is taken from a live case management system. As such, it is subject to change and is not checked to the level of Official Statistics. No information is available in respect of socio-economic status of those prosecuted or convicted or imprisoned for non-payment of a fine in respect of television licence evasion. The Government has said that it will examine whether television licence evasion should be decriminalised.