The Courts Service plans to roll out the Manchester in-court small claims mediation model across England and Wales, eventually replacing all other models it has been testing, the Gazette has learned.


But senior people involved in a scheme in Exeter, one of the two other small claims schemes tried, say the Courts Service has not properly compared Manchester with its fellow pilots and that Manchester might be being picked for its cost efficiency.



The Exeter model uses mediators from the Devon and Exeter Law Society (DELS). Though the Courts Service refused to give the results of the analysis of the different models' success rates - saying they are not yet finalised and will be announced later this year - it has cited Manchester's high success rate as the reason for picking it. Manchester is the only pilot with an in-house mediator.



However, Exeter-based District Judge Jill Wainwright told the Gazette that the local model 'has benefits that the judges in Exeter feel outweigh the economies of the suggestion of the in-house mediator'.



Jeremy Ferguson, chairman of DELS's mediation committee, said the Exeter mediators did not try telephone hearings, which have been so successful in Manchester, during the pilot comparison because it was not thought part of the plan.



Judge Wainwright said Exeter has now taken on telephone mediation, but agreed with Mr Ferguson that the Courts Service's decision appears to have already been made.



A Courts Service spokeswoman said the DELS had not been 'prohibited' from conducting telephone hearings. 'The Manchester pilot displayed the most successful settlement rate both with and without telephone briefings and is the model that the service intends to take forward, rolling out across England and Wales.'



By Rupert White