Assessment

Mediation Assessment

Tackling anti-social-behaviour (ASB) is high on the agenda of many Local Authorities and Councils and can be costly for organisations and for communities. Dealing with ASB should be a mixture of listening, education, prevention and enforcement.

NFS is nationally recognised as a leader in Mediation Assessment and it used by many local authorities to successfully resolve their dispute cases. In particular NFS have worked with Southampton City Council for over 12 years and successfully resolved over 90% of over 5000 ASB and neighbour dispute cases referred by their housing departments.

Success is due to our specialised housing mediation model named MEDIATION ASSESSMENT. It is successful because it focuses on the following:

  • It is delivered by an independent and impartial organisation
  • Parties are seen quickly and cases are usually completed within 15 working days.
  • Parties do not have to meet or talk to each other. People feel safe and are seen somewhere they are comfortable. They can also be anonymous.
  • A full and narrative report is provided, which gives a balanced view, strategies for the parties involved and measured outcomes.
  • It is effective if used as a first step in policy but can be effective if used in other ways.
  • Mediation is always offered to all parties involved.

Mediation Assessment gives everyone the opportunity to change behaviour patterns and make adjustments before action needs to be considered or as part of formal action. Providing a detailed report allows organisations to target their in house resources where they are needed most, whilst clearly showing what can sometimes be just malicious complaints.

Mediation Assessment is proven to deliver successful and lasting results with positive feedback from satisfied clients. Equally important is that it is cost effective for organisations to consider using immediately as part of their process today or on a number of cases over a year or adhoc.

Our quality services speak for themselves: Our Mediation Assessment Service for social housing landlords is validated as Best Practice by HouseMark and obtained a runner up award out of 50 entries at the ASB ActionNet Awards in partnership with Southampton City Council.