header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
26 September 2014 / Graham Lyons
Issue: 7623 / Categories: Opinion , Mediation , Family
printer mail-detail

No Minister!

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
lyons_cover_image

Graham Lyons shares his reservations about the future of mediation in an open letter to the Rt Hon Simon Hughes MP*

Dear Minister,

This open letter is in part a response to your recent letter (your ref: 13422), which outlined what the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to do in response to the Family Mediation Task Force Report (TFR ) published in June. It is also partly a critique of what happens when a task force committee of 18 people dealing with family mediation has barely any full-time family mediators sitting on it. The letter I wrote to you in May about the abolition of the MoJ helpline was not acknowledged. Ditto my letter to the MoJ.

The TFR rightly looked at what can be done to increase awareness through the court forms. But why did it not produce recommendations regarding awareness of mediation among GPs, health personnel and Housing Departments?

The idea of a free first session is flawed. The first family mediation session is seldom a negotiating one. In our service

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Property cases reshape established principles
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
NLJ this week: Stress ruling raises the bar for employers
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
NLJ this week: Can Manchesterism revive access to justice?
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
NLJ this week: Constitutional conventions tested as power changes hands
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
NLJ this week: Lawyers must become product designers
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll