Improved regulation and harmonised professional standards would encourage the take up of family mediation, the justice minister said today. Jonathan Djanogly told a Law Society conference on family mediation that the government will work with family mediation services, through the Family Mediation Council (FMC) to achieve a ‘harmonised’ scheme of accreditation across public and privately funded clients.

He said the government will also work with the FMC to develop its regulatory role in this area, informed by the independent review by Warwick University's Professor John McEldowney helping to shape the future direction on regulation and standards.

Djanogly said family mediation has grown ‘slowly’, with different ways of working across the country’s 1,000 providers.

He said: ‘The majority of family mediators work to professional standards administered through their relevant member organisations and these meet the FMC’s code of practice.’

But he said that a ‘small minority’ of family mediators are currently working outside these arrangements. ‘We believe it is necessary to move to a position where family mediation works more to a consistent model with harmonised professional standards,’ said the minister.

‘With further improvements to regulation and standards across all family mediation providers it is my belief that more people will see the benefits and take the mediation route,’ he said.

Outlining the government's ambitions for mediation, Djanogly said ‘culture change’ was needed to move mediation to the ‘mainstream as the first option considered by separating couples and parents who are in dispute’.

He said: ‘It’s no secret that I'm an ardent fan of family mediation. Mediation can be quicker, cheaper and provide better outcomes, especially if compared to drawn-out court hearings. Used appropriately and early, mediation has the benefit of shaping a resolution to a conflict which can be tailored to the needs of both parties,’ he said.

But he said mediation needed to be grasped at the earliest opportunity, before the parties became entrenched and embroiled in expensive litigation.

Djanogly confirmed that legal aid will remain available for mediation in private family law case for those who are eligible.

Once the legal aid reforms have been enacted, he said the government expects to spend an extra £10m a year on mediation, taking the total to £25m a year. Though, he added that there will be no cap on that amount.

He said referrals to mediation in publicly funded cases are up 11.8% since the introduction of the pre-action protocol, compared with the same period in 2010/11.

Conversion rates from referral to assessment meetings are up slightly to 47% with a slight decrease from the assessment meeting to meditation, with mediations reaching a full or partial settlement in 68% of cases.

But he said: ‘Our experience is that too many people still approach a solicitor for a court resolution in the first instance when a dispute arises, leaving mediation as a secondary consideration for them.’

Djanogly said that the government has already undertaken to implement legislation requiring anyone contemplating court action to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM), but said the government would not compel people to mediate.

He said he recognised that there are concerns about the effectiveness of the pre-action protocol and a need to tackle inconsistencies in approach across the courts.

‘Ahead of any statutory change we will re-issue the protocol guidance to make sure that courts are aware that they ask for sight of the FM1 form confirming attendance at the MIAM or giving reasons why mediation was not considered suitable,’ he said. He added that the FM1 form would be altered to make it more ‘user friendly’.

Law Society vice president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff said: ‘The courts must be available for those who need them to get justice, but ADR must be provided to allow as many as possible to make their own arrangements. Lawyers and mediators should work together in the interests of clients to make mediation the dispute resolution of choice for those going through family breakdown.’