It comprised: the background to the report; the Government response to the consultation paper; a summary of the responses to questions in the consultation paper; and the next steps following this consultation.

Regarding housing claims, including disrepair cases, some respondents highlighted concerns about the complexity of housing law and the importance of protecting parties’ long-term rights and obligations, as well as the unequal relationship between landlord and tenant. It was suggested that, while mediation in some form would be useful in many housing cases, integrating mediation was not appropriate. However, this view was not unanimous, and other respondents felt housing cases should be included, owing to the benefits of integrating mediation within the court process.

The Government’s initial target is to implement integrated mediation for all specified money claims issued through standard procedure and allocated to the small claims track within this Parliament. Its aim is for this to provide the basis for extending the policy to all standard small claims in the future. It will announce the implementation details and timings in the coming months.

For the post-consultation report, click here.