New members appointed to Infected Blood Memorial Committee
All of the Infected Blood Memorial Committee have now been appointed to their posts.
- Along with the Chair, Clive Smith, and Vice Chair, Joan Edgington, the remaining members of the infected blood memorial committee have now been appointed
- The infected blood community will have the opportunity to meet all of the committee at a commemorative event later this week
All of the Infected Blood Memorial Committee have now been appointed to their posts. The new appointees are Bessie Woodhouse, Clair Walton, Gordon Dixon, John Dearden, Neil Lewis, Nicola Leahey, Nigel Hamilton, Tom Koukoulis, and William Wright OBE.
These follow on from the appointment of Clive Smith as Chair in July and Joan Edgington as Vice Chair of the Committee in October. Clive and Joan will work alongside the rest of the committee to create a fitting and long-lasting memorial.
This project includes plans for a UK wide national memorial, as well as additional memorials in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:
I am really pleased that all the members have now been appointed to this important committee.
Each brings different experiences and insight from across the community. I look forward to being updated on their work so that we can deliver a fitting memorial to the injustices faced by the victims of this scandal.
The Chair and Vice Chair of the Infected Blood Memorial Committee, Clive Smith and Joan Edgington, said:
We want to congratulate all those who have been appointed to sit on the Infected Blood steering Committee.
It is our intention that the Committee is representative of all corners of the community, recognising transmission routes, breadth of experiences and geography.
We look forward to working with the new Committee members and the wider community to swiftly progress our incredibly important work.”
The government has made these appointments to the Committee to recognise the different transmission routes and breadth of the experiences of those affected and infected by the Scandal.
The government is also paying compensation to victims of the scandal. As of 6th November, a total of 3,614 people have been asked to start their claim, and of this number 3,371 have started the claim process. So far 2,621 people have received an offer and the total value of offers made is £2,000,183,671.75. This is in addition to over £1.2 billion in interim compensation payments paid out so far.