A pilot scheme making family mediation available at court to legally aided parties in disputes involving children has cost more than expected and achieved modest settlement rates, the Gazette has learned.

The Legal Services Commission funded a six-month project from July to December in the Family Procedure Courts and County Courts in Birmingham, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Reading and Plymouth. It did not make mediation compulsory, but made mediators available at court on days where family cases were listed for an initial assessment of suitability, if the judge and Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) felt it should be attempted.

However, preliminary results from the LSC show that settlement was achieved in less than a third of cases.

During the six-month project, 224 cases began. Of the 163 cases that proceeded to mediation, 28% settled, 24% narrowed the dispute, and 27% progressed to further mediation away from the court.

Nationally in 2008/09 there were 13,552 family mediations, in which 68% reached full or partial settlement.

The LSC said an initial evaluation showed that although the service cost more than anticipated, it encouraged more people to mediate, with clients in 44% of cases considering mediation where they would not previously have done so.

Sara Kovac-Clarke, head of family policy at the LSC, said the cost of the pilot was being analysed, but the LSC would need to work out how to make it more cost-effective.

Explaining the comparatively low settlement rate she said: ‘We’ve had feedback that suggests court is not the best place for mediations to take place.’

The LSC will decide by the end of February whether a revised version of the scheme should be rolled out nationally, after feedback has been obtained from the judges, mediators and CAFCASS and a full cost assessment made.

Last year the LSC spent £13.8m on family mediation, which it claims saved the legal aid fund approximately £10m.

Meanwhile, a survey carried out by the Civil Mediation Council showed widespread support for its moves towards accredited training for mediators, the establishment of a register of mediators and clear quality standards.