Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Today, I have laid the Government Response to the public consultation on proposed changes to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. I have also published the accompanying report by the Technical Expert Group.

We consulted on seven specific areas of the compensation scheme and gave respondents an opportunity to tell us what else they thought should be changed. I am pleased that we are now making substantial changes in all seven areas, and making an additional change based on feedback we heard. These changes will increase the levels of compensation available for infected and affected people.

I am grateful to the Infected Blood Inquiry, and would like to pay tribute to Sir Brian Langstaff and his team for the sensitivity and care with which they carried out their work. The Government has now fully responded to all of the Inquiry’s Additional Report recommendations on the design of the compensation scheme.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

On 9 July 2025 the Infected Blood Inquiry published its Additional Report on Compensation. The Inquiry made a number of recommendations to the Cabinet Office and to the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) to ensure that fair compensation is provided to every person that is eligible without delay.

As of 21 October, IBCA has contacted over 3,614 people to start their compensation claim, and 3,371 have started the claim process. 2,476 people have received an offer, totalling over £1.8 billion, and so far 2,033 people have had their compensation paid with more than £1.35 billion paid in compensation by IBCA. IBCA has now contacted all registered infected people to begin a claim, and the Government expects IBCA to open the service for those who are infected and unregistered, deceased infected and affected this year.

I am pleased that progress is being made, but I acknowledge the calls from the community highlighting the need for faster payment. That is why, on 21 July 2025, I informed the House that the Government would make a further interim payment of £210,000 to the estates of infected persons who were registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme or predecessor scheme (on or before 17 April 2024) and have sadly passed away.

This is in addition to the interim payment of £100,000 which opened for applications in October 2024, meaning an estate could be eligible for up to £310,000 in interim payments. Since applications opened, over 600 estates have received payment, totalling over £60 million.

Today, I can announce that the process under which estates can apply for a further interim compensation payment has now opened. I hope this payment goes some way in recognising the hurt of those who have been impacted by losing their loved ones due to infected blood and blood products.

These payments will be delivered through the existing Infected Blood Support Schemes. They will be made to the estates of deceased infected persons As with all compensation payments related to infected blood, it will be exempt from income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax and disregarded from means tested benefit assessments.

Only the personal representative of the estate is able to make the application. Applicants will need a grant of probate, letters of administration, or a grant of confirmation (specific to Scotland) to evidence entitlement to claim interim compensation on behalf of the estate. To assist the legal process of obtaining this evidence as quickly as possible (for those that do not already have it), applicants can claim back their exact legal costs up to £1,500. The application form is available to download online at gov.uk, together with full guidance on how to apply.

For those estates that have already received £100,000 an expedited application form is available. This requires much less information from the applicant than provided previously. Estate representatives can access this directly by contacting the UK Infected Blood Support Schemes.

I hope this additional interim payment brings some relief to the families impacted by a scandal that is a shameful mark on our national history. Please rest assured that delivering compensation for every person that is eligible remains an utmost priority for this Government.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

On 21st July, I updated the House that the Government would be bringing forward further regulations to respond to the recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Additional Report. I also informed the House that to make the proposed changes to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme would require further technical clinical and legal advice. I can now confirm that this advice will be provided by a new Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Technical Expert Group.

The Technical Expert Group will assist the Government in developing proposals, in response to the Inquiry’s Additional Report, for public consultation. Following that consultation, the Government will be in a position to finalise any changes to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, informed by the consultation findings and the Technical Expert Group’s advice.

I have published the Terms of Reference for the Technical Expert Group, including full membership, as well as its work programme. To ensure the necessary changes to the compensation scheme can be implemented with the minimum possible delay to IBCA’s ongoing delivery of compensation, I am appointing all members of the previous Expert Group to the new group. In addition, I am pleased to have personally appointed five further experts to broaden the group’s expertise and ensure any changes to the scheme are thoroughly assessed and validated. The new additional members to the Technical Expert Group are as follows:

Dr Lise Estcourt, Transfusion Medicine specialist

Dr Susie Shapiro, Haematology Specialist

Dr Chloe Beale, Psychological medicine - psychiatrist

Professor Deborah Christie, Psychological medicine - psychologist

Professor John Weinman, Psychological medicine - psychologist

The appointments I have made reflect feedback from infected blood community stakeholders and I thank the community representatives for their valuable input into this process.

While the previous Expert Group, appointed by my predecessor, provided advice which enabled the Government to take critical decisions on the design of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, I acknowledge the Inquiry’s and community’s criticisms about the transparency of its work.

After reflecting on the Inquiry’s report, I gave the House an undertaking that transparency will be at the heart of any expert group going forward. Today I published an open letter to Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery, who I have asked to Chair the new Technical Expert Group, setting out my expectations on how it will operate. This includes an expectation that the group will undertake targeted engagement with the infected blood community on issues raised in the Inquiry’s Additional Report, to inform its work and help it answer the questions set out in its work programme.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Today, the Infected Blood Inquiry has published an Additional Report. This additional report reflects the unprecedented nature of the Infected Blood Scandal and the thoroughness of the Inquiry’s investigation. I am grateful to Sir Brian Langstaff and the dedicated work of the Inquiry.

I would like to reiterate a wholehearted and unequivocal apology on behalf of current and previous governments to every single person impacted by this scandal. Nothing of this nature can ever happen again, but for this to be anything more than words, more tangible action must be taken.

The UK Government committed £11.8bn in the Budget, delivered on 30 October 2024, for the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. As of 1 July, 460 people have received their compensation payment, totalling £326,184,985.78. 2,043 people have begun their compensation claim and 616 people have received an offer of compensation, totalling £488,346,336.18.

The Government is committed to reflecting carefully on this Report to ensure that people who are both infected and affected are properly supported in their search for justice for this devastating Scandal and to receive compensation they are due.

As the Inquiry notes “it is the time now to build constructively on the scheme as it is and as it operates”. During the hearings to the Infected Blood Inquiry, I set out that there were matters that the Government is willing to consider in light of any recommendations from the Inquiry. The Inquiry has today made a total of nine recommendations many of which reflect the areas I have already committed to reviewing. These include eligibility for the unethical research award; the 31 March 2025 cut-off date, beyond which people will not be able to register with support schemes as a bereaved partner; expanding the supplementary route for the affected; the position of persons infected with HIV before 1 January 1982 and the Special Category Mechanism (and its equivalents).

The Government will now quickly work through these recommendations and work closely with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to understand the delivery implications of any policy changes to the Scheme.

In his concluding remarks, Sir Brian Langstaff has said “it is fair to record that the Government has taken major steps”. It is our firm commitment, as we reflect on the Inquiry’s work, to continue to take steps and support the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to deliver compensation to victims of this scandal as quickly as possible.

Subject to parliamentary approval, my intention is to provide a further update to the House before summer recess, and a response to Sir Brian’s Additional Report of actions the Government is taking in due course.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Yesterday, the Infected Blood Inquiry set out its intention to publish an additional report. The Inquiry also published a number of witness statements, including ones provided by the Cabinet Office, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority and a number of people directly impacted by the Infected Blood scandal and their representatives.

The victims of the Infected Blood scandal have suffered unspeakably and their needs continue to remain at the forefront of our work. The Government will give careful consideration to the statements published by the Inquiry. I am committed to continuing to build trust with people who are impacted by this scandal, and to engage further with representatives of the infected blood community on the Government’s response. We will continue to cooperate with the Inquiry over the coming months.

The Government is determined to deliver justice for people who are infected and affected as a result of the Infected Blood Scandal. That is why, in the Autumn Budget, we set aside £11.8 billion to compensate victims of the Infected Blood scandal. This is one of the biggest compensation schemes in our country’s history - and that is entirely right given the scale of this injustice. In line with our commitment, in December last year the Infected Blood Compensation Authority began delivering this compensation. As of Friday 21 February, 204 people have been invited to start their claim, and IBCA is on track to meet its commitment for 250 people to start their claim by the end of March.

Before the end of March, both Houses will have the opportunity to debate the draft regulations for people who are affected including partners, parents, children, siblings and, in some instances, carers. Once in force, the draft Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025 will provide IBCA with the powers it needs to begin making payments to eligible affected people. We have committed that payments to affected people will start by the end of 2025.

The Government also recognises that delivering justice is much more than financial compensation. I am continuing to work with the Department of Health and Social Care, taking forward the Inquiry’s recommendations to ensure that everything is done to prevent further such tragedies in the future.

My personal commitment to this work, and the people impacted by it, remains steadfast. The Government is acting on the findings of the Inquiry. We will continue to work with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to ensure compensation is delivered as swiftly and compassionately as possible to everyone who so greatly deserves it.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report was published on 20 May 2024 and made 12 recommendations. The recommendations made by Sir Brian Langstaff are wide-ranging, well considered, and necessarily complex.

In the months since the publication of the Inquiry’s report, Parliament has come together a number of times to discuss the infected blood scandal. In the course of those debates, I committed to providing an update on the Government’s response to the recommendations by the end of this year. This update fulfils that commitment. Alongside this statement, I am publishing a command paper detailing the full update on gov.uk, and I have requested that copies be deposited in the libraries of the Houses of Parliament.

The Government accepts in full or accepts in principle all of the recommendations made. Where recommendations are accepted in principle, we have sought to explain the rationale for doing so. Many of the recommendations are wide-reaching, and proper implementation needs time to be delivered effectively. The Government has worked to progress implementation and assess the deliverability of each of the recommendations. We are committed to making meaningful change. As per Recommendation 12 of the Infected Blood Inquiry, I will provide a further final update on the progress made on Inquiry's recommendations by May 2025.

I am grateful to my ministerial colleagues for their co-operation, and in particular my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention at the Department of Health and Social Care for his leadership on the recommendations for which his department is responsible. I am also grateful to Ministers in the devolved governments, in particular the Minister for Public Health and Women's Health in Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in Wales and the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland. Their engagement has been invaluable in ensuring that we have as consistent an approach as possible across the whole United Kingdom.

The victims of this scandal have suffered immeasurably. It is my utmost intention to deliver what justice and compensation the Government can as quickly as possible. This government is taking concrete action to deliver on the compensation scheme. The Chancellor announced £11.8bn of funding in the Autumn Budget, and I am pleased to update that the Infected Blood Compensation Authority has been able to make the first payments to the victims of this scandal in the last few days.

Furthermore, I can also confirm today that the Government has also extended its eligibility criteria for siblings for the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme to ensure that the Scheme provides fair compensation to those who have been devastatingly impacted as a result of their sibling’s infection.

Under the new definition, siblings of infected people will be eligible if they, while under the age of 18, lived in the same household as an infected person for a period of at least 2 years after the onset of the infection, or would have been expected to live in the same household were it not for the impact of the infection. Siblings in this scenario will receive an Injury Impact Award in line with the severity of the infection, and a Social Impact award of £12,000.

Alternatively, siblings will also be eligible as long as they cohabited, or were expected to cohabit with the infected person were it not for the impact of the infection, for at least 2 years whilst the affected sibling was under the age of 18. This is the case even if that period was prior to the infection, including if the infection happened during adulthood. Siblings in this scenario will receive an Injury Impact Award in line with the severity of the infection, and a Social Impact Award of £8,000. This mirrors the Social Impact Award available to carers, parents (where the onset of a child’s infection began after age 18); and children (where the onset of a parent’s infection began after their child turned 18).

I hope that both these updates provide the infected blood community with some assurance that we are learning from and acting on the mistakes of the past.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

In May, the Infected Blood Inquiry produced its final report and the country heard the full extent to which thousands of men, women, and children had their lives overturned by the use of infected blood and blood products in the NHS. The infected blood scandal is a shameful mark on our national history. I would like to pay tribute to the courage and determination of every single person that has suffered because of the use of infected blood and to those who have taken tireless action to ensure their community is heard. Every death that results from the infected blood scandal is a tragedy, and this Government is committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry to ensure swift resolution for all of those impacted.

The principal recommendation from the Infected Blood Inquiry was that the Government compensation scheme for victims of infected blood should be established ‘now’. The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme was legally established for people who are infected and claiming compensation through the Core Route in regulations laid on 23 August. We expect the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments to people who are infected by the end of this year, and last week the Infected Blood Compensation Authority reached out to the very first claimants under the Scheme. However there is still more to do. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Government is aiming for a second set of regulations to be in force by 31 March 2025. This will support our shared aim to begin payments to people who are affected in 2025.

The Government also recognises that people have waited far too long for compensation payments. That’s why interim payments are crucial for supporting people until the Infected Blood Compensation Authority is up and running. In October 2022, interim payments of £100,000 were made to living infected beneficiaries or bereaved partners registered with the Infected Blood Support Schemes. In June this year, further interim payments of £210,000 were made to living infected victims of infected blood. Through these interim payments, over £1 billion has been paid to people who are infected or their bereaved partners.

The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 placed a statutory duty on the Government to deliver interim payments of £100,000 to estates for deaths not yet recognised through financial compensation. This followed the recommendation in Sir Robert Francis’ Compensation Framework Study that interim payments should be made to “to recognise the deaths of people to date unrecognised and thereby alleviate immediate suffering” and achieves the spirit of recommendation 12 of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Second Interim Report in the most practicable way.

On 26 July, I informed the House that the applications for interim payments due to be made to estates of deceased infected persons were scheduled to open in October, and that further details were to follow. Today, I can announce that the process under which estates can apply for interim compensation payments has now opened. For many people, this is the first substantial compensation payment they will benefit from to recognise the lives of people they have lost as a result of the use of infected blood and blood products.

This is a £100,000 interim payment, and as with any compensation payment related to infected blood, it will be exempt from income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax and disregarded from means tested benefit assessments.

As with the previous interim payments, these payments will be delivered through the existing Infected Blood Support Schemes. These payments are to be made to the estates of deceased infected persons, where interim payments have not already been received, in those cases where the deceased infected person was registered with an existing or predecessor scheme on or before 17 April 2024.

Those who were not registered with an existing or predecessor scheme on or before this date may still be eligible for compensation. For these cases, estate representatives will need to apply to claim compensation with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, once applications open. I will provide a further update on this in due course.

Where an interim compensation payment has already been made directly to the infected person, to their bereaved partner, or their estate, an estate will be ineligible for this interim payment.

Only the personal representative of the estate is able to make the application. Applicants will need a grant of probate, letters of administration, or a grant of confirmation (specific to Scotland) to evidence entitlement to claim interim compensation on behalf of the estate. To assist the legal process of obtaining this evidence as quickly as possible (for those that do not already have it), applicants can claim back their exact legal costs up to £1,500.

The application form is available to download online at gov.uk, together with full guidance on how to apply. Applicants may request a hard copy of the application form from the UK Infected Blood Support Scheme operating in the nation of the UK where the deceased infected person was infected. The completed form and supporting documents should be sent to the relevant Infected Blood Support Scheme.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

I should like to inform the House that I have appointed three interim Non-Executive Board Members to the Infected Blood Compensation Authority under Part 3 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024:

Russell Frith, appointed as an Interim Audit and Risk Board Member, effective from 1st October 2024 until 1 October 2025;

Deborah Harris-Ugbomah, appointed as an Interim Commercial Board Member, effective from 1st October 2024 until 1 October 2025; and

Paula Sussex, appointed as an Interim Digital and Data Board Member, effective from 1st October 2024 until 1 October 2025.

Sir Robert Francis KC, the interim Chair of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, has also appointed three interim Non-Executive Board Members:

Sir Robert Behrens, appointed as an Interim Community Engagement Board Member, effective from 1st October 2024 until 1 October 2025;

Helen Parker, appointed as an Interim Community Engagement Board Member, effective from 1st October 2024 until 1 October 2025; and

Gillian Fairfield, appointed as an Interim Medical Board Member, effective from 1st October 2024 until 1 October 2025.

These short term appointments will support the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to deliver compensation to people who are infected and affected in a timely manner. An open and fair recruitment process will commence in 2025 to fill these posts substantively.

The Government is absolutely committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry and today’s announcement is progress towards that collective aim. I will continue to update the House as we progress work to deliver long overdue compensation to people infected and affected as a result of the Infected Blood Scandal.