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Mediation Matters: Family hubs can help children and provide value for taxpayers
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With the first Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) of the current government looming later this month I think it's fair to say that expectations in the family law sector are low. With government departments having been asked to prepare projected budget cuts of 25 and 40 per cent nobody expects a radical rejuvenation of of legal aid.
And in the sphere of family mediation we know that whilst the government appears to want people to pursue mediation where possible rather than further clogging blocked family courts there will be no more money for its promotion and marketing to supplement the hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on a campaign early in 2015. Whilst the previous Family Justice Minister Simon Hughes was proactive with his support there's little sign of his successor Caroline Dinenage raising any trumpets for the profession.
The silence of ministers strongly suggests we won't be seeing any more 'help-ups' in the vein of the 'free single mediation sessions' brought in by the previous government.
We know too that there will be no more government money for the regulation of...
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