Mediation Voucher Scheme

Relate Mediation London North East & Essex welcomes the news of the extra support given to the Mediation Voucher Scheme

An extra £5.4 million in funding will help even more families to resolve disputes away from court, such as contact arrangements for children.

The scheme has been a success with around two-thirds of cases reaching full or partial agreements away from court.

The money more than doubles the investment into the initiative since its launch in March last year which now totals £8.7 million.

It will provide around 10,200 additional vouchers for mediation services – adding to the 8,400 which have been issued so far.

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab said:

We are investing over £5 million this year alone to help more families to resolve their disputes without the stress and trauma of lengthy courtroom battles.

Mediation protects children, by removing the bitterness of parental disputes from the amplifying effect of a courtroom.

Led by a trained and accredited mediator – parents can reach agreements they are both prepared to accept, such as how to split assets or arrange child contact times, rather than have a judge decide for them. The specialist mediator helps participants to reach solutions tailored to their circumstances.

Preliminary research from the Family Mediation Council (FMC), who run the scheme, show promising results. Survey data of the first 2,800 completed cases using the vouchers revealed 65 percent reached either

a whole or partial agreement away from court, while a further 3 percent only attended court to formalise their agreement.

The investment announced today will extend the initiative to March 2023.