Policy paper

Government Update on the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme: 16 August 2024

Published 16 August 2024

Executive Summary

• The Infected Blood Scandal is an injustice that has spanned across decades on an unprecedented scale: thousands have died, and continue sadly to die every week. Lives have been shattered, and justice denied for decades. No amount of financial compensation can make up for this unprecedented suffering; however, the Government hopes the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (‘the Scheme’) confirmed today will bring redress to people who have been impacted by this harrowing scandal. 
• This document provides an update on the Scheme in advance of regulations being made. This will allow the Government to start putting in place the measures necessary to provide much needed financial support to the infected and affected victims of this tragedy. 
• Before the Government makes regulations to establish the Scheme, Sir Robert Francis KC was asked to engage - independently - with the community and gather their views. Sir Robert found that the Government’s proposal “provided a credible means of offering significant – and in many cases – lifechanging sums to persons infected and affected”.
• As a result of considering Sir Robert’s report and the issues he raised on behalf of the community, the Government has listened and made significant changes to the Scheme.
• The Government has agreed that support scheme payments will continue for life as part of the compensation package.
• The Government is also increasing the amount of compensation available in some areas, offering more compensation routes to those impacted by the scandal, and increasing the compensation to those who underwent unethical testing. This will amount to one of the UK Government’s largest compensation schemes in recent history.  
• Sir Robert made 74 recommendations for improvements to the Scheme in light of the community’s views. Of these 74 the Government has accepted all but five in the Scheme that will now be put into legislation. The full list of recommendations which will not be accepted is listed below.
• The Scheme will be established in law by laying regulations in two phases:
  • the first phase of regulations will be made by 24th August. These will establish the ‘core’ route, which infected members of the community will be able to claim their compensation through; and
  • the second phase of regulations will be laid to adapt the ‘core’ route for the affected community, as well as create an infected and affected ‘supplementary’ route where claimants can personalise their claim.
• The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is already undertaking the work to establish the compensation service. Further updates will be provided through gov.uk and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority newsletter as this work progresses.
• People who are victims of the infected blood scandal, both infected and affected, can register their interest with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority at the following link: Infected Blood Compensation Authority

Background

The Infected Blood Inquiry concluded in its final report – on 20th May 2024 – that this was an unprecedented systematic failing, one which had unique implications to every part of our society and which changed many lives forever. 

Government accepted the moral case for compensation and in advance of a full settlement, the previous Government made interim payments of £100,000 in October 2022, and £210,000 in June 2024 to people who are living with an infection registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme. 

On 21st May, the previous Government announced a proposed compensation scheme for those victims of the scandal. The proposed scheme was based on the recommendations and principles put forward by the Inquiry, which was informed by Sir Robert Francis KC’s Compensation Study. The scheme was also informed by an expert group of clinical and legal advisors and social care specialists. At the same time the Government established the Infected Blood Compensation Authority and appointed Sir Robert Francis as Interim Chair.

Sir Robert undertook an engagement exercise with representatives from the infected blood community on the Government’s proposed compensation scheme, and found that it “provided a credible means of offering significant – and in many cases – lifechanging sums to persons infected and affected”. 

He presented the Government with 74 recommendations – of which the Government is accepting all but five – and this document details the Government’s position on those recommendations, as well as outlining the future of the   Scheme and upcoming regulations.

First, it is important to be clear about where the Scheme will stay the same. 

Eligibility

Those who were eligible to receive compensation are still eligible: we are compensating people who have been infected and affected by the Infected Blood Scandal.  

The infected includes those living or deceased who have been directly or indirectly infected through NHS-supplied blood, blood products or tissue with HIV, Hepatitis C and chronic Hepatitis B. This also includes those who were indirectly infected through their partners or loved ones. The estates of those who died from an acute Hepatitis B infection, will also be eligible under the Scheme.

The affected cohort is linked to their familial relationship to the person with the infection, or their care of the infected person. This includes affected partners, children, parents, and siblings. Other friends and family members who cared for loved ones with an infection will also be eligible to apply as carers in their own right.

Compensation categories

Those who are eligible to receive compensation can still do so through the five different categories recommended by the Infected Blood Inquiry. These are:

• An Injury Impact Award, for the past and future physical and mental injury, emotional distress and injury caused by the infection and treatments for it. This will be awarded to both infected and affected persons (including the estate of an infected person); 
• A Social Impact Award for past and future consequences of the infection including stigma and social isolation. This will be awarded to both infected and affected persons (including the estate of an infected person);
• An Autonomy Award addressing the distress and suffering caused by the impact of the disease, including interference with family and private life. This will be awarded to infected persons and affected partners, parents and children (including the estate of an infected person); 
• A Care Award for the future care needs of the eligible infected person, and to compensate for financial losses used for care in the past. This will be awarded only to infected persons (or their estates). The Award can be paid directly to affected persons on the request of an infected person or their estate representative.
• A Financial Loss Award for past and future financial losses suffered as a result of the infection. This will be awarded to living infected persons. Where an infected person is deceased, an award for past financial loss is paid to the estate of the infected person and an award for future financial loss is paid to any affected dependents. 

The Scheme consists of a tariff framework ‘core route’ which can be used to determine the amount of compensation a person is eligible for under the five awards set out above. 

In addition to the core route, a ‘supplementary route’ will also be available to provide additional awards for applicants whose losses are not adequately covered by the core route. 

Additional compensation routes and payments

In addition to the compensation categories described above,  there will also be higher awards available under certain categories, as well as new routes for gaining compensation through the supplementary route. 

Following the recommendations of Sir Robert and advice from the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group, the Scheme will now include a ‘health impact’ supplementary route to compensation. This will provide more financial support for infected people with health conditions not recognised within the core route that could impact an applicant’s care requirements and capacity to earn. This will include impacts currently recognised under the Infected Blood Support Scheme payment band ‘Hepatitis Special Category Mechanism’ (or equivalent UK wide bands). 

On Sir Robert’s recommendation, reflecting views from the community, the ‘social impact award’ will also be increased for affected members of the community who are likely to have lived in the same household as the infected person for more than two years. 

One of the most shocking aspects of this scandal was the treatment of people who were subjected to unethical medical research. To recognise this, as recommended by Sir Robert, the Scheme will now include additional supplementary route autonomy awards of £10,000 for those subjected to ‘unethical research’ identified by the Infected Blood Inquiry. One particularly harrowing example of this is the treatment at Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College, where almost 100 children with haemophilia were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C in the 1980s. Sir Robert recommended that there will be a higher award of £15,000 for children who were subjected to research while resident at Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College. The Government agrees with him, and these payments will be included in the Scheme. 

Sir Robert recommended the Government provide further detail on the rationale and tariffs to be offered as part of the compensation scheme. To help bring clarity to this, the Government has published the final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group. This sets out the technical, clinical and legal advice which has been the basis of the scheme. The Government will release further detailed information on the Scheme prior to establishing the scheme in regulations.

The Government is not accepting five of Sir Robert’s recommendations, where it believes that a different solution is more practical and better for claimants. The Government has not accepted Sir Robert’s recommendations 9, 11, 31, 38 and 40 in his Report on the following grounds. 

Recommendations 11, 31 and 38: Sir Robert recommended that periodical payments and future care be uprated to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings index. To ensure that all payments hold value against inflation and provide parity between applicants that choose a lump sum or periodical payments, instead the Scheme will index all future periodical payments to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Alongside this Sir Robert recommended (Recommendation 9) that the Government consider whether the base value of current support scheme payments should be increased. The Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group provided a legal and clinical review of the level of future financial loss and care provision for infected persons offered overall by the Scheme, and the Government is content with their recommendations.

Recommendation 40: Sir Robert recommended that an affected person should be able to intervene in the application of the infected person to offer evidence of their contribution to the provision of care. The Government is not able to accept this recommendation as it goes against the principle of enabling all applicants to receive an award independently of other applicants. The Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group considered that “It would not be appropriate for the compensation scheme to take away the control from the infected person”. The infected person may provide evidence of any paid for care they have received as part of their application but an affected person is unable to present this to the scheme independently.  

Sir Robert has made a number of recommendations on the operational running of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority. The Government welcomes these recommendations and encourages the Authority - for which Sir Robert has been appointed the interim Chair - to consider how these can best be implemented as the compensation service opens to applications. 

Future of Infected Blood Support Schemes

Acknowledging the community’s significant concerns raised in Sir Robert’s report, the Government has accepted Sir Robert’s recommendations for the future of Infected Blood Support Schemes. In line with Sir Robert’s recommendations, all those registered with an infected blood support scheme before 1st April 2025 - both living infected persons and bereaved partners - will continue to receive regular support scheme payments for life.

Support scheme payments will not be taken into account when assessing an applicant’s ‘injury’, ‘social impact’, or ‘autonomy’ awards, or in relation to past financial loss or care awards. Applicants will be able to access these parts of their compensation as a lump sum or periodical payment. 

Support scheme payments received after 31st March 2025, will be taken into account when the Infected Blood Compensation Authority assesses an applicant’s future financial loss and care awards. This assessment will not reduce the value of support payments which will continue to be paid for life. 

Cabinet Office and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority will work closely with the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Infected Blood Support Scheme administrators to ensure that the payment of compensation, including continuation of support scheme payments for life as part of the compensation package is as smooth as possible, placing a minimum burden on individuals. 

Next steps

In May 2024, in the same week that the Inquiry published its report and the Government published their compensation scheme proposal, the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 became law.

The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 provides the necessary legal basis to establish the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, but the details must be set out in regulations. It is important that the regulations that establish the Scheme are carefully scoped to ensure the Scheme works as intended and ensure that each person receives the full compensation they are entitled to. For this reason the regulations are being brought forward in two stages.

The Government will make a first set of regulations under the Act by the statutory deadline of 24 August. These regulations will give the Infected Blood Compensation Authority the powers to pay compensation through the core route to the infected, both living and deceased. This will ensure that people who are infected and determined as eligible under the Scheme will be able to begin claiming compensation as soon as the Infected Blood Compensation Authority is in a position to open its service. The Government expects the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments by the end of this year.

A second set of regulations will provide for the payment of compensation to the affected on the basis announced today, and for claims under the supplementary route. This will ensure that the Authority can begin compensation payments to the affected in 2025.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is already undertaking the work to establish the compensation service. This is a significant and substantial undertaking, and they are receiving support from the Cabinet Office as it sets up a service that is easy to access and simple to use. Further updates will be provided through gov.uk and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority newsletter as this work progresses and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority is in a position to open applications.  The Government thanks Sir Robrt Francis KC and his team for the work they are undertaking in establishing this body.  

The Government has announced that applications for interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased infected people who were registered with existing or former support schemes and whose deaths have not yet been recognised will open in October 2024. The Government will set out further details of this in due course.

Further detail on the tariff framework of the scheme will be released shortly through gov.uk. 

The Government is acutely aware of how long victims of this dreadful scandal have been waiting for compensation. We are progressing our work on compensation as quickly as possible, while balancing the need to ensure the necessary processes are in place. While no amount of compensation can make up for the suffering experienced by so many, we hope this update will bring reassurance and support to the community.