The government says it never meant to discourage

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24581418

"The government says it never meant to discourage mediation"

"The government, which had hoped the legal aid changes might actually encourage more people to use mediation, has been taken by surprise by the fall-off in demand.

Lord McNally, the Families Justice Minister, admitted that it was a "hiccup".

"We''ve noticed the dip," he told the BBC.

"We''re looking at how we can address the issue, and hope to help them promote more mediation more vigorously in the future," he said.

But in the meantime much of the £25m set aside as legal aid for mediation has remained unspent."

I don''t think there has been a "fall-off in demand" - more that people simply can''t afford mediation. But what did the Govt expect by withdrawing LA for all but a very small number of cases.

It''s one thing to promote and encourage mediation, but being able to afford it in many cases is another thing entirely

A similar story is reported here and here .

The Guardian concluded that legal aid solicitors were having a useful function in referring people to mediation. I guess someone is going to have to take up that mantle if compulsory mediation is going to succeed, perhaps court office staff?

It''s a depressing figure though isn''t it? 6 months before mediation becomes compulsory, many mediators are closing their doors due to lack of funding/interest. Geography is already a barrier to mediation (parents who live 50 miles apart are unlikely to travel for mediation as it is) without having more mediators close down and reduce the options.

Most people who use mediation (apparently) are directed there by their solicitors. If people are bypassing solicitors and going directly to court they will not be aware of mediation. Simples.

How could the government not foresee this? No doubt they were warned repeatedly.

There are also about 25 solicitors for every mediator (not sure where I got that figure from - the gov doesn''t actually know how many mediators there are), so not enough to replace solicitors.

From the laywersupportedmediation.com blog -

A quick summary: out of the total 75,320 referrals to mediation recorded by the MoJ in 2012/13, less than 12% (6,677) were self-referrals (ie clients taking themselves off to a mediator). A colossal 83% of total referrals came by requiring publicly funded family lawyers to refer their client to mediation before being allowed access to the next tranche of legal aid. The removal of this requirement on April 1st (along with the legal aid) is responsible for the collapse in referrals to mediation between April and June this year.

Well, there you go! QED.

And now for a little honesty.........

The great and the good wanted to cut costs after bailing the banks out, they appointed an accountant, ok so his profession was accounting, after much time and consultation, or posh dinners as we know them it was decided to pull just about all LA for family matters, oh and put away a tiny % to promote mediation.

But mediation is expensive, more than £100 per hour, often much more, but what if it won''t work anyway, not to worry, court to the rescue, all you need is the ability to learn very quickly, vast backing from a source that won''t charge, and £70+ for FM1, £410, div app, £255, form A, or about the same for C100, and so on, anyone see any flaws yet?, not to mention most people who need this help have the same mindset as a manic depressive having just watched water ship down shortly after Bambi.