For people interested in mediation in Scotland

collaborate
February 2011
Issue No 64

The Scottish Mediation Mediation Given A Boost By

Network is now on
LinkedIn® Civil Justice Advisory Group
Why don’t you join us? The Civil Justice Advisory Group
LinkedIn® is a professional was established by Consumer Focus
“There is clear
Scotland in 2004 to look into the
networking site and free to
efficiency and effectiveness of the evidence that parties
join.
civil justice system. The first report who have engaged in
Scottish Mediation Network was published in November 2010 mediation to resolve a
group will provide a forum and the Group recommended a root dispute
for discussion, enable and branch review of the civil often find both the
contact with fellow justice system in Scotland.
Consumer Focus Scotland played an
process and the result
members and enable the
important role in pressing for the more satisfactory
sharing of experience and
Civil Courts Review and have done than those who have
knowledge.
much to ensure that the Gill Review proceeded
Click here to join. and the discussions around its to litigation.”
implementation focussed on the Final Report of the Civil Justice Advisory
needs of the court user. The CJAG Group, Jan 2011
approach was to look at ways in
Inside this issue page which a civil justice system might be designed around the needs of
CJAG Report 1-2 those who use the system to resolve disputes.
Key Features of CJAG Report
Decade of 3
Homelessness Triage
Mediation Professor Dame Hazel Genn brought the Australian triage model to
the attention of CJAG at their consultation seminar and underscored
Review of 4 its importance in creating a strategic framework for access to
Mediation justice. Within the triage system there is a responsibility to assess
Register the needs of the individual case, the best pathway (information,
Government 6 assistance, dispute resolution or court adjudication of legal rights)
Consultation: and to commit to help the person get to that destination.
Workplace
Disputes Better Access to Information and Legal Education
IT has a role to play in facilitating “self triage” especially if linked
Scottish 8
into other sources of help and means of dispute resolution. If
Mediation
people have access to better information and public legal education,
Helpline
then they are empowered to resolve their own disputes where this
Celebrating 9
is possible and to be confident users of the justice system when
Neighbourhood
they need external assistance with dispute resolution.
Mediation
Continued on page 2
Advertisements 10-11

The Scottish Mediation Network is funded by the Justice Directorate of the Scottish Government and
the Network for Social Change.
Scottish Charity No SC034921, Company No SC258173
Registered Office: 18 York Place Edinburgh EH1 3EP www.scottishmediation.org.uk
collaborate Page 2

Cont....
Mediation
CJAG found that there was “clear evidence that parties who have engaged in mediation to
resolve a dispute often find both the process and result more satisfactory than those who
have proceeded to litigation.” Mediation was seen as essential to the application of triage;
those with disputes should be able to access information about the range of options for
resolving them, allowing them to make informed decisions about how to progress.

The recommendation was that court rules should be introduced which encourage but do
not compel parties to go to mediation.

In order for triage to work effectively people have to be able to access mediation services
and CJAG have recommended that a mediation scheme should be available which could be
accessed before a court action is raised as well as being available to the court. The report
indicated that the need for an affordable, easily accessible and sustainable pre-court
mediation process should be explored.

Charlie Irvine represented SMN on the CJAG and reported that there appears to be an
appetite for mediation to be hardwired into the structure of the civil justice system as has
already happened in England and Wales.

Both the Final Report and Summary of the Civil Justice Advisory Group are available on the
Consumer Focus Scotland website: www.consumerfocus-scotland.org.uk

Scottish Government Response to the Scottish Civil

Courts Review
In November Collaborate reported that “The Scottish Mediation Network welcomes the
Scottish Government„s response to the report and recommendations of the Scottish Civil
Courts Review. In particular we welcome the commitment to consider carefully the feasibility
of a national mediation service.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson has commented that “we are grateful that the Scottish
Mediation Network has welcomed our response to the Report of the Scottish Civil Courts
Review”, but has pointed out that what was actually said in the Government‟s response in
relation to the feasibility of a national mediation service was as follows:

“It is likely that any new or expanded support service will only be affordable if they are
funded by efficiencies delivered through other charges introduced to the justice system.
Subject to these financial constraints, we will consider carefully any recommendations of the
Civil Justice Advisory Group led by Lord Coulsfield, which is examining ways to create and
support user friendly dispute resolution processes for claims of low financial value, and how
best to ensure access to justice, including through public legal education and alternative
dispute resolution.”

The Civil Justice Advisory Group reported on 18 January and has made a number of
recommendations relating to mediation in Scotland which are being considered carefully by
the Government.
collaborate Page 3

A Decade of Homelessness Mediation

in Scotland
For the last decade mediation between young people and their parents has been recognised
by policy makers as an important measure in the prevention of homelessness.
Consequently, since 2001 Scotland has seen an explosion of pilots, short and long term
projects, as well as significant developments in homelessness strategies.

What have we learnt? What have we unlearnt? How do we mediate in these volatile
situations? Can the principles of mediation successfully mesh with local authority priorities?
Does mediation really prevent homelessness?

The development worker for Amber, Emma Dore, has teamed up with the Scottish
Community Mediation Centre to investigate the story of mediation between young people
and their families in Scotland. Mediators across the country are being interviewed about
their current and previous experiences of working in this unique field. The report will include
a summary of each project and an analysis of the research findings. Also reviewing recent,
relevant literature it will examine mediation within the changing landscape of homelessness
policy and look to the future during this period of tightening purse-strings.

Drawing together learning from across Scotland the report will promote best practice and
stimulate development. It is hoped that it will also raise awareness of mediation, which
directly tackles the biggest cause of youth homelessness, relationship breakdown.

The report will be published at the beginning of May 2011. If you have delivered this kind of
mediation, whether on an ad-hoc basis or as part of a dedicated project, or if you would like
a copy please contact: emma@cyrenians.org.uk

Mediation Conversion Course: Workplace Mediation

24th—25th February

LIMITED PLACES REMAINING

£300 Members, £350 Non-members
For further details and to book a place on the course, contact
admin@scottishmediation.org.uk
0131 556 1221
collaborate
Review of the Scottish Mediation Register (SMR)
The Standards Board for the SMR
agreed that the time was ripe to review
the Benchmark Standards and
operation of the SMR. The Scottish
Government‟s Justice Department have
provided funding for this task.
The Standards Board have agreed
that the Review should seek to:
 Improve the quality assurance of
mediation in Scotland.
 Ensure the quality standards for
the Register are benchmarked
against similar schemes such as
the Civil Mediation Council and
the College of Mediators in
England and Wales.
 Strengthen the Register by
exploring means of linking with
o the r spe cialist me diatio n
registers in Scotland.
A three person review group has been
established and involves Margaret
Lynch, the Director of the Scottish
Mediation Network, Ian McDonough in
his capacity as Chair of the Standards
Board and Stuart Valentine as Chief
Executive of Relationships Scotland.
Both Stuart and Ian are Board members
of the Scottish Mediation Network.
SMR Review Consultation Meetings
Aberdeen Thursday 3rd March
5pm—7pm
Dundee Thursday 3rd March
11am—1pm
Edinburgh Wednesday 23rd February
2pm – 4pm
Page 4
Review Process
 Invitation to participate in the
Review to all members of the
SMR
 Consultation Paper and
Questionnaire will be sent to all
members of the SMR
 3 Consultation events will be
held where SMR members will
have the opportunity to
participate in the consultation in
person (Edinburgh, Aberdeen
and Dundee)
 Meetings will be held with a
variety of stakeholders including
t h e S co t t i s h G o ve r n m e n t ,
Mediation Service Users, ACAS,
Scottish Community Mediation
Network, Relationships Scotland.
 A Final report will be produced
with Recommendations which
will be put before the Standards
Board of the SMR who will take
the final decisions on which
recommendations to implement.
 Feedback to SMR members will
be provided via a meeting and
web based information.
To book a place at a consultation event,
contact the Scottish Mediation Network:
admin@scottishmediation.org.uk
0131 556 1221
Centre for Lifelong Learning
Regent Building
University of Aberdeen
Incubator Unit
James Lindsay Place
Dundee University
Gillis Centre
100 Strathern Road
Edinburgh, EH9 1BB
collaborate
Peer Mediation Programme for Looked
After Children and Young People
The target group for SMN‟s Peer Mediation
Training in 2011/2012 is Looked After
Children and Young People and their
parents/carers. Provision of training to
Young People in West Lothian will be funded
in 2011/2012 by the Robertson Trust.
The purpose of the Peer Mediation Training
is to equip vulnerable Young People and
those who care for them with a mutual
understanding of conflict and conflict
handling skills that effectively reduce
challenging behaviour and enable Young
People to better handle conflict.
The Scottish Mediation Network will:
 Provide a Training Programme and
Toolkit which can be used by
parents/carers and Looked After
Children and Young People to give
them an understanding of conflict,
anger responses, conflict handling
techniques and conflict resolution
skills.
 Provide training courses for the
parents/carers of Looked After
Children and Young People.
 Provide peer mediation courses for
Looked After Children and Young
People.
 Make the Peer Mediation Training
and the benefits it produces
sustainable by setting up and
supporting Peer Mediation Circles in
each Residential Home.
 Evaluate the impact of the training
on the Young People‟s behaviour
and responses, and the impact of
the training on the adults conflict
handling capacities.
 Use the evaluation of this project to
lobby the Scottish Government for
the inclusion of conflict resolution
skills in the Curriculum for
Excellence.
Page 5
Carol Hope will undertake the Training
Programme Design and production of the
Toolkit and the delivery of the training in
West Lothian. Carol is Scotland‟s most
experienced peer mediation trainer. She is
an accredited family, workplace, equalities
and additional support for learning
mediator.
Carol‟s pioneering work with Looked After
Young Children has been recognised for its
excellence, winning an award from the
Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care
and the Centre for Effective Dispute
Resolution (CEDR) Tony Curtis award:
...a special award for the
Scottish Mediation Network
for its initiative of Peer Me-
diation for young people in
care, a highly commendable
project designed to make a
difference to the lives of a
vulnerable group of young
people by using the principles
of mediation. (CEDR)
The need for this project is clear:
 One in five Young People leaving
care ends up homeless. (Statistics
Publication Notice, Scottish
Government, Feb 2010)
 Looked After Young People are six
times more likely than other kids to
be excluded from school.
Aggressive behaviour and poor
anger management are often cited
as the main reasons for school
exclusion. (Looked After Children
and Young People, Scottish
Government, Jan 2007)
 One in Five of Scotland‟s persistent
young offenders are Looked After
Children and Young People.
(SACRO)
collaborate Page 6

Resolving Workplace Disputes:

Government Consultation
The UK Government announced a major consultation on Resolving Workplace Disputes in
January 2011, which has the potential to have a major impact on the use of mediation in
employment.

The issue which hit the headlines was their proposal to increase from one year to two the
qualifying period of employment before bringing a case to tribunal. However what has been
missed in the furore surrounding this proposal is the more welcome focus on mediation as a
means of early dispute resolution.

Research from the CIPD indicates that in the UK workers spend on average 1.8 hours each
week dealing with conflict.1 The annual cost of this to the UK economy (in 2008) was
estimated at £24 billion.2 The Government believes there is significant scope for encouraging
parties to resolve disputes at the earliest opportunity and thinks that mediation has a key
role to play in reducing the financial burden of unresolved conflict. The consultation
document states:

“Mediation is a process that delivers a solution developed and

agreed by both parties, a win-win outcome that benefits
parties not only in terms of the direct savings from avoiding
the tribunal route, but also in terms of preserving the
employment relationship, maintaining productivity, reducing
sickness absence and increasing employee engagement.
Figures show that while the cost of resolving a dispute
through a claim to an employment tribunal can cost an
average of £3800 for business, and £1500 for a claimant, with
many taking at least 26 weeks to reach determination,
mediation is often completed in a day, usually at a cost of
around £1200 if parties act quickly, when a problem first
arises.”3

The Government is keen to understand the current extent to which mediation is used to
resolve a dispute before it escalates to an employment tribunal. There is little information
about the extent to which mediation has been successfully used – which they define as when
the dispute does not result in a tribunal case. The consultation seeks to establish what
interested parties see as the costs and benefits of using mediation, and what barriers might
be preventing employers and employees from using mediation as a way to agree a solution
to a dispute. They want to know if mediation is more helpful in some kinds of cases than
others and, if so, which? They also want to know the extent to which the voluntary sector
provides mediation services for employment disputes and whether there may be scope to
enhance this provision.
collaborate Page 7

The consultation puts 7 questions related to mediation:-

 To what extent is early workplace mediation used?
 Are there particular kinds of issues where mediation is especially helpful or where it
is not likely to be helpful?
 In your experience what are the costs of mediation?
 What do you consider to be the advantages and disadvantages of mediation?
 What barriers are there to use and what ways are there to overcome them?
 Which providers of mediation for workplace disputes are you aware of? (They are
interested in private/voluntary/social enterprises – please specify)
 What are your views or experiences of in-house mediation schemes? (Advantages
and disadvantages)
The Scottish Mediation Network would encourage all mediators involved in work place
mediation to respond to this consultation which can be completed online at:
http://tinyurl.com/34u7rr5
SMN will be submitting a network response and invites all those involved in workplace
mediation to a meeting on Monday 21st February from 2pm – 4pm at 18 York Place,
Edinburgh, to consider our response. If you wish to attend this meeting, please send your
contact details to admin@scottishmediation.org.uk
If you would like to contribute to the Scottish Mediation Network‟s response, but are unable
to attend the meeting, please submit your response to admin@scottishmediation.org.uk
Full Consultation document available: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/
docs/r/11-511-resolving-workplace-disputes-consultation.pdf

1. www.opp.eu.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/pdfs/fight_flight_or_face_it.pdf

2. www.cipd.co.uk/news/_articles/poor-conflict-management-skills-cost-uk-plc-billions.html

3. http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/r/11-511-resolving-workplace-
disputes-consultation.pdf

A local membership group for the north east of Scotland has

been set up and had its inaugural meeting on January 20th in
the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Aberdeen University, to
whom we are very grateful for the use of their premises. This
was an opportunity to set up local networking opportunities
and discuss issues of relevance to the local area and group.
Thanks also to those who came along and had an enjoyable
and lively discussion.

The group discussed a number of issues in depth including

confidentiality, standards and what the group would like to see
in terms of information resources on the website.

We are very aware that travel and accommodation costs can

be prohibitively expensive for members and practitioners
outwith the central belt, and we are hoping to initiate more
local area groups with a regional focus. We also hope to have
more visits to regional areas by speakers and by the support
group in Edinburgh.
collaborate Page 8

Invitation to join the Panel of the

Scottish Mediation Helpline
The Scottish Mediation Network is establishing a Scottish Mediation Helpline in order
to:-
 Increase awareness of mediation services in Scotland
 Grow the market for mediation in Scotland
 Provide an easy access and referral point for people wishing to use mediation
services in Scotland

The Helpline will be based on the model provided by the National Mediation Helpline
which operates in England and Wales.
SMN is seeking to recruit a panel of mediators who will provide the mediation
services for the Scottish Mediation Helpline. Mediators on the panel would be
required to:-
 Provide pro bono mediations for claims where the value of the claim is less
than £250 – it is envisaged that these mediations would be done by
telephone
 Contact the parties to set up a mediation appointment within 24 hours of
receiving a referral
 Use the fee scale for mediations conducted as a result of referral from the
SMH
 Complete a mediation report and return it to SMN for each mediation referral

If you wish to join the panel of mediators you should:-

 Be a current member of the Scottish Mediation Register
 Notify us of your wish to join the panel by completing the form in the SMR
mailing and returning it to admin@scottishmediation.org.uk before noon
on 24th February 2011
 Be prepared to attend a briefing meeting prior to the launch of the Scottish
Mediation Helpline

Advertise in Collaborate
SMN Member Non-Member

1/4 page Free £50

1/2 page Free £100

Full page £75 £200

For enquiries or to place an advert in Collaborate, please contact
admin@scottishmediation.org.uk
Adverts will be published subject to editorial discretion.
collaborate
Celebrating 10 years of
Neighbourhood Mediation
West Dunbartonshire‟s Neighbourhood
Mediation Service recently celebrated ten
years of helping neighbours resolve their
disputes amicably.
To mark this milestone, the Neighbourhood
Mediation Service held a seminar at their
offices in Leven Valley Enterprise Centre.
The Mediation Service forms part of West
Dunbartonshire Council‟s new integrated
Community Safety & Anti-Social Behaviour
Service, and aims to bring neighbours
together to sort out their differences by
encouraging and supporting them to talk to
each other and reach a mutually
acceptable solution.
Mediators are trained to professional
standards and deal with community and
neighbour-related problems. The Service
operates by referral from clients, the
Council‟s Housing department, local
housing associations and a host of other
agencies including Strathclyde Police.
Page 9
Delegates attending the seminar were treated
to talks from the Scottish Community
Mediation Centre, Strathclyde Police,
Clydebank Housing Association & the Anti
Social Behaviour Officer Forum (ASBOF),
followed by a question and answer session.
Gary McCallum, the Service‟s Senior Mediation
Officer, said: “It‟s important that we raise
awareness of what mediation can achieve.
Mediation is free and accessible to all
residents of West Dunbartonshire. No matter
how trivial the dispute may seem, the
Mediation Team works with all parties
concerned, giving them the opportunity to
speak and be heard with the aim of reaching a
resolution everyone can live with. It can help
people avoid the stress and financial worries
of employing a solicitor and going to court
and in many cases forge better neighbour
relations within the community”.
For further information on the Neighbourhood
Mediation Service in West Dunbartonshire,
please contact 01389 608420.
collaborate Page 10

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Optional Mediator Assessment Module: 19 – 20 May 2011

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collaborate Page 11

ADVERTISEMENT
Scottish Community Mediation Centre

Shuttle Mediation
22 February 2011
Edinburgh
£45
3 hours CPD

This half day course explores the use of shuttle mediation. It examines the purpose
and uses of shuttle mediation and gives participants the opportunity to practice
effective shuttle techniques.

Two-Day Conversion Course for Young People/Families Mediation

20 + 21 January 2011
Edinburgh
£250

This two-day course is aimed at giving experienced mediators the necessary

understanding and skills to enable them to practice as mediators in conflicts between
young people and their families where there are issues around housing and
homelessness. It examines the issues facing young people and their families and
gives participants the opportunity to practice a range of techniques in a supportive
environment.

Five-Day Mediation Skills Course

23, 24, 30, 31 March & 7 April 2011
Glasgow
£600 per participant

This is a an assessed, accredited course for people who will be using mediation skills
in their work. The course provides information on key concepts in mediation and the
opportunity to discuss and practice basic skills in a safe, relaxed atmosphere. The
course covers the whole mediation process from first contact with the service to
closing a case including clients' expectations before and during mediation and how to
maintain impartiality and confidentiality. The mediator's role is explained and
practised using typical scenarios for first visits to explore mediation as an option,
preparing clients for joint meetings and handling difficult behaviour at a meeting.

To book a place or for more information on any of the above courses, please contact:
Robert Lambden at Scottish Community Mediation Centre
Tel. 0131 624 9200 or
e-mail: info@scmc.sacro.org.uk

The Scottish Mediation Network is funded by the Justice Directorate of the Scottish Government and
the Network for Social Change.
Scottish Charity No SC034921, Company No SC258173
Registered Office: 18 York Place Edinburgh EH1 3EP www.scottishmediation.org.uk