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Home Local News Parliament Articles Speeches Richard Media South Norfolk Expenses Contact
| MP calls for better
mediation services in East Anglia |
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Many people in East Anglia face a
journey of at least 15 miles to access professional mediation services |
South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon has called on the Legal Services Commission to improve access to mediation services in East Anglia, as a new report finds that the lack of such services encourages divorcing couples to use the courts, which is more expensive for the taxpayer. Mr Bacon was speaking as the Commons public accounts committee published its report on legal aid and family breakdown. |
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The Legal Services Commission administers legal aid, which can be used to pay for alternative ways of resolving disputes, such as mediation. Family disputes resolved through mediation are often quicker and less acrimonious than cases settled through the courts, at less cost to the taxpayer. However, the report finds people in East Anglia must travel at least 15 miles to access mediation services, while 78 per cent of the population can access mediation services within 5 miles. Mr Bacon said today: “Mediation can be faster, cheaper and less acrimonious than taking divorce proceedings through the courts. However, people in East Anglia may find it harder to access mediation, meaning family breakdown in the East is costing more and leaving greater emotional wreckage in its wake. The Legal Services Commission must work hard to improve the coverage of these services across East Anglia”.
16 October 2007 |
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| © Richard Bacon 2010 | ||||||||
