Question reference: S6W-04612
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 24 November 2021
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Current status: Answered by Ash Regan on 8 December 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to increase the availability of legal aid assistance in mediation cases.
Answer
Legal aid is currently available to meet the costs of mediation where appropriate. Again, interaction between mediation and legal aid is a matter that will be considered a part of development of a Bill and I refer to my response to
S6W-04609 on 8 December 2021. In the meantime, the Scottish Government is actively working with stakeholders to expand the availability of mediation and arbitration services within the civil justice system to give our citizens, businesses and organisations access to flexible, affordable and less stressful means of settling disputes, benefitting them and saving time in courts.
The Scottish Government is making available £2.332 million to the Scottish Legal Aid Board in 2021-22 to support projects offering in court expert advice and representation to help people tackle and resolve a wide range of problems including debt, housing, homelessness and small claims court actions.
The Scottish Government is also making available £100k to Scottish Mediation and £115k to the Scottish Arbitration Centre in 2021-22 to promote and expand the provision of Mediation and Arbitration services in Scotland.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers