2003 Mediation in the advice sector
This page contains an outline of this research, and a summary of the key findings. Details of how to find the full report can be found at the bottom of the page.
Title
“Mediation provision in the advice sector”
What is it about?
Advice agencies such as Citizens Advice Bureaux and Law Centres provide legal and other advice to members of the public. The survey aimed to identify whether they were also providing mediation services.
Who did it?
The survey was conducted between March and July 2002 by the Advice Services Alliance (ASA), the umbrella group for the advice sector in the UK, with the support of the Nuffield Foundation.
Key findings
- Only four advice agencies in England and one in Scotland ran a mediation service during the period of the survey.
- Services providing mediation are very vulnerable to funding fluctuations; more than a third of the mediation services identified in ASA’s 1999 survey were no longer in operation in 2002 due to funding shortfalls or to the end of three-year funding projects.
- A number of advice agencies offered a service that was labelled as “mediation”. However, this service characteristically involved setting up a face-to-face meeting between the agency’s client and the party or department with which they were in dispute, and assisting both in negotiating an agreed outcome. Whilst this service was often called “mediation”, it did not conform to the commonly accepted definitions of the mediation process, especially with regard to the neutrality of the third party, and is probably best described as “face-to-face negotiation”.
A number of potential conflicts could arise if the adviser also acts as impartial mediator, including:
- Are both parties clear about the status of the adviser and whom he/she represents?
- Is the adviser clear about whether he/she is on the side of the client or whether he/she is attempting to be neutral?
- If the adviser proposed a solution to the dispute, would this be seen by the parties as a neutral option or as an option in the interests of the represented client?
- If the adviser is acting as impartial mediator, who will advise the client about the law, their rights, and the best course of action?
- What rules of confidentiality and privilege apply to information disclosed in such a meeting?
As a result of the findings of this survey, ASA recommended that creative and flexible ways of resolving disputes without going to court are to be encouraged. However, the advice sector needs to have:
- A clear understanding of the nature of mediation.
- A clear understanding of the distinction between advice, negotiation (whether by phone, letter or face-to-face), representation and mediation.
ASA also issued guidelines to advice agencies on distinguishing between mediation and negotiation in its many forms.
