Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his polity to introduce targets for increasing the number of mediation meetings relating to the pre-Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

The Government remains committed to promoting mediation and its benefits in resolving disputes out of court, and legal aid continues to be available for mediation in family disputes about children and finances. Everyone who wants to apply to court for certain private law proceedings relating to children and financial remedy, must first consider mediation as a way to settle their dispute and attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting unless they are exempt, for example due to domestic abuse.