§ Mr. Keith HillTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the extent to which mediation could be used as a more cost-effective means of resolving disputes than court proceedings;
(2) what assessment he has made of the number of disputes which result in criminal cases where mediation would have resolved the dispute in a more cost-effective manner.
§ Mr. MacleanI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill (Mr. Alton) on 8 March,Official Report, column 174. No comprehensive assessment has been made of the number of cases where mediation might have proved more cost effective than criminal proceedings.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 8 March,Official Report, column 174, to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill, if he will publish the report of the inter-departmental working group on mediation in the criminal justice system.
§ Mr. MacleanNo. The report of the interdepartmental working group, to which I referred in my answer to the hon. Member's question on 8 March,Official Report, column 174, examined a wide range of criminal justice issues in addition to its consideration of the possible value of mediation. It is an internal document prepared as advice for Ministers.