Mediation brings you and the organisation you are complaining about together to discuss what happened and find a solution that works for everyone. We have staff trained in mediation who will guide these conversations and support you throughout.
'... I felt it was a much better process. It made the role of the Ombudsman human. You were really good, managed it very well and made the whole process so relaxed and easy.' Complainant
Unlike our investigation process, we do not make a decision on your complaint during mediation. Instead, we act as a facilitator to help the discussion run smoothly, helping you and the organisation have a productive conversation and reach an agreement you are both happy with.
Our mediation process has three steps:
- Step 1: Initial meeting
- Step 2: Joint meeting
- Step 3: Resolution
Meetings usually take place by video call or can sometimes be in-person or by phone.
Mediation helps everyone involved understand what happened and how it affected them. Our mediator will make sure you feel safe and heard, and that you have time to share what matters to you.
We ask everyone to come to these conversations with an open mind and respect for each other.
Before we can offer mediation, you need to have complained to the organisation first. This is so it has the chance to look into your concerns and put things right. Because of this, both you and the organisation will already know what the complaint is about.
Step 1: Initial meeting
First, our mediator will meet separately with you and the organisation. These meetings usually take around one hour.
This is your opportunity to tell us how you feel about what happened and what you hope to achieve.
You can also discuss what you would like the organisation to understand better - and the organisation can do the same.
You are welcome to bring a family member, friend or advocate to any meeting for support. We might need to meet with them separately before the joint meeting takes place.
The person representing the organisation should know about your complaint and be able to discuss it in detail.
Mediation is voluntary. Everyone involved must feel comfortable with who is taking part before we can go ahead.
Step 2: Joint meeting
After the separate meetings, we arrange a joint meeting with you and the organisation. This usually happens in the same week or as soon as possible afterwards.
This is where you and the organisation come together to talk through the complaint. Our mediator will guide the discussion, giving everyone the chance to share their perspective.
The aim is to find a resolution that works for everyone. The mediator will ask challenging questions to make sure any agreements are realistic and fair.
These meetings usually take between an hour and a half and three hours and include a short break.
Step 3: Resolution
The final step focuses on reaching an agreement. It’s a chance to find practical solutions that work for you and the organisation, without needing a formal investigation. It usually takes place during the joint meeting but sometimes we may reach an agreement afterwards.
We do not usually give our opinion during mediation. But, if you are looking for a financial payment and you and the organisation cannot agree on an amount, we can sometimes help. With everyone’s agreement, we can suggest what we think would be fair, based on our decisions on similar cases. If we do this, we’ll refer to our severity of injustice scale.
Next steps
If you reach an agreement, we will:
- close your case
- write to you and the organisation to confirm what was agreed
- check that both sides follow through on what was agreed.
If you and the organisation cannot agree on everything during the joint meeting, we will consider whether further action is needed. We may decide that what happened in the joint meeting or what was already agreed has achieved enough and there is nothing more for us to do. Or we might progress the case to our standard investigation process. If we do investigate in more detail, your case will be handled by a different caseworker who was not involved in the mediation. Everything said during mediation stays confidential and will not be used in any investigation.
