To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she is taking in response to the conclusion of her Department’s research unit in its report on the Exeter Small Claims Mediation Scheme on (a) appeal or complaints procedures and (b) other mechanisms for accountability; and if she will make a statement. (112581)

These concerns were addressed when the original Exeter small claims mediation scheme was relaunched in June 2005, as one of three small claims pilots that the Department set up to test mediation in small claims—in Exeter, Reading and Manchester. Evaluations of all three pilots showed that the scheme based at Manchester county court gave the highest combination of customer satisfaction and settlement rates. As a result, the Department has put in place an implementation strategy to roll out further schemes based on the Manchester model with effect from March 2007.