Issue - items at meetings - Public Questions

(The closing date for receipt of public questions is 12 noon on 19 May 2020)

No public questions have been received by the date of publication.

6.1             The Cabinet Member reported that a public question had been received.

6.2             Ms. X asked the following question on behalf of Ms Y:

“Given that Parliament Minister for Housing (reference Hansard) commends LEASE Mediation:

Re: matters ADR it states “often develop to the point where recourse is to the law, LVT’s or court a simple resolution is capable much earlier” that is LEASE Mediation.  It is: low cost non adversarial aiming to find a mutually satisfactory resolution as long as both leaseholder and local authority are willing. LEASE will advise if the matter is not suitable for its mediation.

·         Confidential

·         public body funded by government

·         highly geared for Local Authority ADR

Will BHCC be promoting and using with equality LEASE Mediation and when?”

6.3             The Cabinet Member gave the following response:

“As you are aware, LEASE is the name for the Leasehold Advisory Service.   LEASE offers a mediation service, known as the LEASE Mediation Service.

The Council already has a policy of considering alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, in cases where it has not been possible to resolve a dispute through our three-stage internal dispute procedure. However, the majority of our leaseholder disputes are resolved satisfactorily through the 3-stage internal dispute procedure without the need for recourse to either mediation or the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT). 

In the summer of 2009, Brighton & Hove Council used the LEASE Mediation Service for the first time. This helped to bring a satisfactory resolution to a protracted dispute.  This case was the first time that a leaseholder had actively requested mediation.

Our Leaseholder Handbook is aimed at helping council leaseholders understand the rights and responsibilities of both themselves and the council, and provides information on resolving disputes, including the use of mediation.  The Leaseholder Handbook clearly states that the council will consider mediation where appropriate.

Our three-stage internal dispute resolution procedure has been praised and recognised as good practice by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.  The council’s policy is to consider mediation in circumstances where resolution to a dispute has not been reached via the internal procedure.   

We also actively promote the LEASE mediation service via a link to the Leasehold Advisory Service website from the Council’s website.  However, in response to recent enquiries about the use of mediation, the housing service has completed a review of the information that is provided to leaseholders mediation. The report was discussed at the committee meeting of the Leaseholders Action Group on 20th April 2010.  The group endorsed the recommendations and as a result information about Mediation is now included in all Stage-3 dispute letters to leaseholders and greater promotion of mediation will appear in the new edition of the Council Leaseholders Handbook, on the council website and in a revised version of the leaflet for Leaseholders.  There will also be an article about the use of mediation services in disputes in the next edition of the leaseholders newsletter.

It is important to note that Mediation will not always be considered by the Council, or by a leaseholder, as an appropriate way of resolving a dispute.  Although mediation can be useful in some cases, some disputes revolve around a question of fact.  For example, many disputes relate to whether a service charge is payable or not under the terms of the lease.  Questions such as these can sometimes only be determined by a court or a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.  In some cases, the Council may therefore advise the leaseholder that mediation may not be a helpful way of resolving the dispute.  Mediation also only works when both parties are willing to participate and explore a solution.  The council therefore does not feel that mediation should be adopted by default, but it should be considered and promoted in all cases where the internal dispute process has not found a satisfactory resolution to the dispute.   

It is also worth noting that the LEASE Mediation Service is not the only form of alternative dispute resolution available.  Whilst the LEASE Mediation Service is a specialist service and appears to offer good value for money, some leaseholders may wish to seek alternative forms of dispute resolution through e.g. a private mediator. 

I hope that this helps to clarify the Council’s position and has reassured you that we do promote the use of LEASE mediation and have improved the information that we give to Leaseholders to further promote mediation.”

6.4             Ms X. asked the following supplementary question:

“In relation to ADR, particularly lease mediation, will the council keep statistics and publish/publicise statistics of lease mediations versus LVT or other ADR’s if they reach that stage?”

6.5       The Assistant Director, Housing Strategy replied to explain that the council had not published this information.  However, the council did publish the results of complaints received.  The council would be happy to provide details of the numbers of disputes resolved in mediation.

6.6       Ms X requested that information should not just be published online and suggested that leaseholder magazines should be used for publishing information.  The Cabinet Member concurred and accepted that the internet was not always the preferred method of communication.