Mediation

(asked on 17th November 2014) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many referrals to mediation were made in private family law in (a) the UK and (b) Wales in each year from 2009 to 2014.


Answered by
 Portrait
Simon Hughes
This question was answered on 20th November 2014

Mediation works and we are committed to making sure that more people make use of it rather than go through the confrontational and stressful experience of going to court. Last year we changed the law so that anyone considering a court battle over child or financial matters must consider mediation. We have also introduced more free mediation, where one party is already funded.

Last year nearly two thirds of couples who attended a single mediation session for a child dispute reached a full agreement. Almost seven out of every ten couples who opted for mediation reached an agreement.

Millions of pounds of legal aid remain available for family mediation and for legal advice to support family mediation.

The table at Annex A shows the volume of referrals to Mediation in each financial year from 2008/09 to 2013/14, broken down by referral source.

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