Alternative Dispute Resolution can save Scotland money

Alternative Dispute Resolution can save Scotland money

A Scottish Government Mediation Pledge could result in savings of £40m according to figures from the Scottish Mediation Network.

As public cuts begin to bite, a Mediation Pledge could result in money saved from litigation costs being used in more productive ways.

"A Scottish Mediation Pledge could save the Scottish Government upwards of £10 million a year or £40 million over one government term' said Margaret Lynch, Director of the Scottish Mediation Network.

‘The money saved would be enough to pay for 2937 hospital cleaners, 1690 nurses or 1485 police officers.'

The Scottish Mediation Network will be hosting influential American Professor Lisa Blomgren Bingham[1] in Edinburgh on Monday 5th July who will be speaking about the US Government's commitment to use Alternative Dispute Resolution[2].

Professor Bingham, who is the Keller Runden Professor of Public Service at Indiana University, was also influential in the study of the Bill Clinton administration's Administrative Dispute Resolution Act in the 1990's.

The Act, which committed the US federal Government to attempt mediation and other forms of dispute resolution instead of litigation in appropriate cases resulted in savings of $10,735 per case[3].

Blomgren Bingham reports, "Alternative dispute resolution has helped reduce the trial rate in US courts. Mediation has significantly reduced the number of formal hearings over federal employee claims of discrimination in the workplace. Public employees who experience mediation learn how to resolve conflict on their own."

The Blair government introduced their own Alternative Dispute Resolution Pledge in 2001, but it does not apply to Scotland. The pledge has resulted in £335.88m in savings in England and Wales[4].

The Scottish Mediation Network are campaigning in Scotland to have the Scottish Government adopt a similar Mediation Pledge.

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Notes to editor:

[1] Lisa Blomgren Bingham is the Keller-Runden Professor of Public Service at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Bloomington. She has authored over seventy articles, monographs, and book chapters on dispute resolution and collaborative governance. Her recent books include Big Ideas in Collaborative Public Management (M.E. Sharpe 2008) and The Collaborative Public Manager (Georgetown University Press 2009), both co-edited with Rosemary O'Leary.
Bingham received the Association for Conflict Resolution's Abner Award for excellence in research, the Section of Environmental and Natural Resource Administration of the American Society of Public Administration's Best Book award for The Promise and Performance of Environmental Conflict Resolution (RFF Press 2003), and the Rubin Theory-to-Practice Award from the International Association for Conflict Management and Harvard Project on Negotiation for research that makes a significant impact on practice. She is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Her current research examines dispute systems design and the legal infrastructure for collaboration, dispute resolution, and public participation in governance.

[2] Lisa Blomgren Bingham will be speaking alongside Dr Bryan Clark (Strathclyde University) at the Scottish Mediation network Offices, 18 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EP on Monday 5th July, 2pm - 4pm.

[3] "Dispute Resolution and the Vanishing Trial: Comparing Federal Government Litigation and ADR Outcomes" Lisa Blomgren Bingham, J.D., Tina Nabatchi, PhD., Jeffrey M Senger, J.D., Michael Scott Jackman, M.P.A.

[4] Annual pledge Reports, UK ministry of Justice 2002 - 2010

Contact -

Margaret Lynch
Director
Scottish Mediation Network
18 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EP
0131 556 1221
margaret@scottishmediation.org.uk

or

Martin Gribbon
Marketing and Fundraising
Scottish Mediation Network
18 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EP
0131 556 1221
martin@scottishmediation.org.uk