Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on retaining legal aid for family mediation.

We are committed to making sure that more people make use of mediation services to resolve family disputes arising from separation or divorce. Legal aid remains available for family mediation, and for legal advice to support such mediation, for those who satisfy the eligibility criteria. To further promote mediation as a method of dispute resolution the government has, from November 2014, provided funding for the first single session of family mediation in all cases where one of the participants qualifies for legal aid.