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63345

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Mediation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	201790
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2014 answer text <p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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).</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce report will be published imminently. The Government will respond to the report in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes grouped question UIN 201782 201786 201797 201799 201800 question first answered 26/06/2014 16:26:36 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

63332

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Mediation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is towards funding the Help with Family Mediation scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	201797
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2014 answer text <p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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).</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce report will be published imminently. The Government will respond to the report in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes grouped question UIN 201782 201786 201790 201799 201800 question first answered 26/06/2014 16:26:36 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

63361

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Mediation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	201799
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2014 answer text <p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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).</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce report will be published imminently. The Government will respond to the report in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes grouped question UIN 201782 201786 201790 201797 201800 question first answered 26/06/2014 16:26:36 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

63362

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Mediation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	201800
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2014 answer text <p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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).</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce report will be published imminently. The Government will respond to the report in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes grouped question UIN 201782 201786 201790 201797 201799 question first answered 26/06/2014 16:26:36 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

63338

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Separated People: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department has spent on developing the Sorting Out Separation web app; how many people are actively using that app; what the cost is per user of the app; what assessment he has made of the value for money of the app; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that future online development in this area represents good value for money.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	201856
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The costs of the Sorting out Separation web app are £417,500 to date. This includes initial build, maintenance and development, hosting, videos and promotion.</p><p>Contracts and services for Sorting out Separation have been procured using the online ‘Contracts Finder' and CloudStore (‘G Cloud' framework). Both of these are flexible, low-cost methods of commissioning, which has enabled the Department to maintain a strong focus on value for money from initial development to live running.</p><p>As of 31 May 2014 there were 180,000 visitors to Sorting out Separation, which equates to an approximate cost per user of £2.30. We have commissioned work on search engine optimisation to maximise awareness and usage and we anticipate that this will sharply reduce the cost per user in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 30/06/2014 15:04:35 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

63946

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Mediation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of cases in which compulsory mediation and information meetings would have been appropriate in 2013-14; and what funding is being made available in 2014-15 to provide that service.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	202292
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2014 answer text <p>We do not have the data to allow us to assess how many family court applications filed in 2013-14 might have been appropriate for a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) in comparison with the number of MIAMs actually attended. In 2013/14 13,354 couples attended a publicly funded MIAM (that is, where at least one of the parties was legally aided).</p><p> </p><p>Implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014 on 22 April 2014 means that attendance at a MIAM is now compulsory for the potential applicant.</p><p> </p><p>Public funding (legal aid) remains in scope for family mediation for those who qualify on means and merits<em>, and the budget for legal aid for mediation is uncapped. In 2013/14, the LAA spent £9m on mediation.</em> If one party is funded the other will be covered for the MIAM as well. Legal help with mediation is also available for the funded party and includes help from a lawyer with applying to the court for a consent order based on the agreement reached in mediation.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 02/07/2014 16:44:18 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

65165

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Mediation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to reverse the fall in take-up of family mediation for separating and divorcing couples.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	203498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2014 answer text <p>We have changed the law to require people to consider mediation before applying to the Family Court. This will encourage people to resolve their issues through mediation rather than court, where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>We are delivering a wide-ranging programme of activity to improve public awareness about family mediation and to make sure that advice agencies are providing the right information about it. This includes being very clear that legal aid is still available for mediation and for legal support for mediation.</p><p> </p><p>I have taken the opportunity to engage directly with mediation and legal practitioners about the issues facing them at the moment. I have hosted a webchat for people to come forward and offer ideas to encourage people to use family mediation and launched an online tool called Dialogue where people can post their ideas.</p><p> </p><p>I have hosted two roundtable meetings to discuss increasing the take-up of family mediation with key figures in the mediation profession. The ideas from these events were considered by the Family Mediation Task Force, which was chaired by David Norgrove. The ‘Report of the Family Mediation Task Force' has been published on the mediation Dialogue webpage at: <a title="http://bit.ly/1o7roWW" href="http://bit.ly/1o7roWW" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1o7roWW</a>. The report makes recommendations about increasing the uptake of family mediation. The Government will respond in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 07/07/2014 08:57:15 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

76429

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many mobile telephones, BlackBerrys and laptops were lost by her Department in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	204474
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State for the Home Department can confirm the information <br>relating to lost, and stolen, mobile phones, Blackberrys and laptops can be <br>found on the following link to the Home Office webpage on the Gov.UK website:</p><p><br>https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306918<br>/2013_Annual_ICT_Losses.csv/preview</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td>January - December 2013</td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Device / Incident</strong></td><td><strong>TOTAL</strong></td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Lost Blackberrys / Mobile Phones</td><td>62</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Stolen Blackberrys / Mobile Phones</td><td>12</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Lost Laptops</td><td>3</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Stolen Laptops</td><td>5</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Lost Removable Media</td><td>1</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Stolen Removable Media</td><td>0</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Recovered Blackberrys / Mobiles</td><td>2</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Recovered Laptops</td><td>0</td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information is recorded and published under calendar year, information on items <br>lost and stolen for 2014 will be published in early 2015.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Staffordshire Moorlands answering member printed Karen Bradley question first answered 10/07/2014 14:12:59 answering member 4110 label Biography information for Dame Karen Bradley
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

76298

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2014
	answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many mobile telephones, BlackBerrys and laptops were lost by his Department in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	204467
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2014 answer text <p>The following items were either lost or stolen in the years in question:</p><p>2013: four laptops and three BlackBerrys</p><p>2014: three laptops</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Maidstone and The Weald answering member printed Mrs Helen Grant question first answered 14/07/2014 11:19:13 answering member 4018 label Biography information for Mrs Helen Grant
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

76946

	registered interest
	date	09/07/2014
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, how many mobile telephones, BlackBerrys and laptops were lost by the Government Equalities Office in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	204799
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2014 answer text <p>There has been one laptop loss in 2014.</p> answering member constituency Maidstone and The Weald answering member printed Mrs Helen Grant question first answered 14/07/2014 11:25:15 answering member 4018 label Biography information for Mrs Helen Grant
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw