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Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner has announced The Thames Valley Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Mediation Service, which is being delivered by Alternatives to Conflict (previously known as Mediation Bucks) and is available to residents across Milton Keynes, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
The Police and Crime Commissioner has provided funding of £60,000 annually to Alternatives to Conflict for a period of 3 years (April 2024 – March 2027). There is an option to extend the service at the end of the period by up to two years.
“The aim of the Thames Valley-wide mediation service is to prevent the escalation of anti-social behaviour by making mediation more widely accessible to our communities. Mediation helps to resolve neighbour and community disputes that, if left, can escalate and cause significant harm and distress.
“Often these disputes don’t meet the criminal threshold and can’t be resolved by one agency alone. However, we know from pilot programmes in the Thames Valley that engaging in mediation can lead to significant benefits for all parties involved.
“Over the long term, working with Thames Valley Police and our statutory partners to collectively tackle ASB remains a priority. The introduction of a Thames Valley-wide mediation service will strengthen this work by helping to alleviate some of the community issues our frontline teams come into contact with. I hope to see it making a difference.”
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner Thames Valley.
Mediation provides an independent support service and can offer a solution when there is no clear course of action open to a statutory agency, such as the police or local authority. It also represents an alternative to court proceedings and intervention by statutory agencies.
Mediation is a confidential, informal process in which a neutral third party, the mediator, will help those who are in dispute to reach agreement. Individuals can either self-refer into the mediation service or professionals can complete a referral with the individuals consent.
Following an initial conversation, Alternatives to Conflict will arrange for all parties involved to meet individually online with a mediator. If all parties agree, a joint in-person meeting will be arranged to talk openly and respectfully, acknowledging differences and recognising common grounds and shared needs.
In the majority of cases, where parties agree to meet together with a mediator, important steps towards resolving the conflict are made. The service also offers conflict support when only one party in a dispute consents to be engaged in the process.
For related reading, check out our recent article that looks at how police forces are tackling anti-social behaviour with their £66m funding boost this year.
You may also be interested to read ‘The impact of hotspot policing: reducing crime, one neighbourhood at a time‘.