Relationship with Support Schemes and Benefits
Infected Blood Inquiry · Second Interim Report · Issued 5 April 2023 · Addressed to: UK Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
I recommend that, with regard to the relationship between compensation, support payments and benefits: a) in assessing compensation under the scheme, no account should be taken of any past payments made under the support schemes or their predecessors; b) the current annual payments under the support schemes should be continued (or merged into the compensation scheme) and guaranteed for life, by legislation or secure government undertaking; c) such continued payments should be taken into account in assessing awards for future financial loss or care provision; d) such deductions as would be made from damages under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997, but no other, should be made in respect of equivalent awards under the scheme; e) awards of financial loss should be made net of tax, but the awards themselves should not be liable to taxation, and should be regarded for tax purposes as if they were support payments; f) any lump sum award under the scheme should be made exempt from inheritance tax by an equivalent addition to the inheritance tax free allowance of the recipient.
Infected Blood Inquiry, Second Interim Report · 5 Apr 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme regulations provide that past support scheme payments are not deducted from compensation awards (Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations, UK Parliament, 2024).
- Support scheme annual payments continue alongside the compensation scheme (Government Response to the Infected Blood Inquiry, Cabinet Office, December 2024).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government — initial response
As per recommendation 13 of the Second Interim Report, any payments made to those eligible under the Scheme will be exempt from income tax, capital gains tax, and inheritance tax. Any payments will also be disregarded from means tested benefit assessments (which includes council tax and nursing home fees). This includes payments made to recipients of compensation via the estate of an infected person.
UK Government · 17 Dec 2024 Written response →
●UK Government — follow-up
Support scheme payments continue alongside compensation and are guaranteed for life. Past support payments not deducted from compensation. Compensation awards are tax-free. Inheritance tax exemptions provided.
UK Government · 14 May 2025 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 17 Dec 2024 Support scheme continuation and tax treatment implemented. Source →
- 15 Jan 2026 · IBCA Community Update As of 13 January 2026: 3,721 people asked to start claims, 3,546 begun process, 3,074 received offers totalling £2.47bn, 2,861 paid totalling £1.89bn. Third compensation regulations in force 31 December 2025. View source → Good Progress
- 31 Dec 2025 · UK Parliament Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 established IBCA. Three sets of scheme regulations in force (Aug 2024, Mar 2025, Dec 2025). First payments December 2024. £1.89bn paid to 2,861 people by January 2026. View source → Good Progress
- 28 Oct 2025 · IBCA Independent Review IBCA has contacted 2,215 people to begin compensation claims; 1,934 started process. £812m+ paid via Horizon Shortfall Scheme. £11.8bn committed in Autumn Budget. View source → Reasonable Progress
- 22 Jul 2025 · IBCA Community Update Infected Blood Compensation Authority established August 2024. First claims for deceased infected/affected opened December 2025. IBCA accepted all 11 recommendations directed to them. View source → Good Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.