Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Monday, 12 November 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 22 November 2001. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Thursday, 22 November 2001 on behalf of the Lord Chancellor's Department.

Lord Chancellors Dept

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, if he will make a statement on the (a) cost and (b) savings in 2000-01 of the pilot scheme at Leeds Combined Court offering mediation to all parties in defended cases.

Answer: Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on the (a) cost and (b) savings in 2000-01 of the pilot scheme at Leeds combined court offering mediation to all parties in defended cases. [15032] Ms Rosie Winterton: The pilot scheme based at Leeds combined court was managed in a way that was cost neutral for the Court Service. The evaluation of the scheme, undertaken by Leeds Metropolitan university, found that most parties that responded to the survey thought that the mediation had saved them money on the total potential costs of resolving the dispute. However, take-up of the scheme was low, with only 15 mediation appointments taking place between 1 July 2000 and 31 August 2001.

Secondary information