Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will undertake a public consultation on the proposed duty of candour.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has committed to implement a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities, and criminal sanctions for those who do not comply.
We remain fully committed to bringing in this legislation and we will continue to work with families and stakeholders.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's policy paper, Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report Government Response, published on 30 July 2025, what is the estimated cost of delivering those recommendations.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The policy decisions that the Government announced on 21 July, and included in the Government Response on 30 July, are currently estimated to cost around £1 billion in further compensation payments. However, the total cost could change depending on what is agreed following consultation with the infected blood community.
The Government has said it will pay what it takes to fund the scheme, and we will update the forecast costs at Autumn Budget 2025.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry Report.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As I set out in my Oral Statement to the House on 21 July, the Government will be bringing forward a further set of regulations as soon as Parliamentary time allows to implement the recommendations we have already accepted.
The Government will be consulting the infected blood community on the remainder of the recommendations before making any further changes to the Scheme.
The Government would like to provide the community with sufficient time to consider and share their views on the Government’s proposals in response to the Inquiry’s recommendations. The consultation is expected to open in October. Any changes will require further regulations. We expect this second, more substantial set of regulations, to be brought before Parliament in 2026.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Cabinet Secretary has delegated his attendance to the Main Honours Committee.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service is responsible for the operation of the honours system, but as is customary, delegates this responsibility to another senior Permanent Secretary.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the differing compensation payments for deceased infected blood scandal victims based on whether they contracted HIV or Hepatitis C.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The impact of a Hepatitis infection can range from very mild to very severe, including liver failure and death as a direct result of the infection. In its second interim report, the Infected Blood Inquiry recommended that the compensation scheme should reflect the different impacts of infection by developing severity bandings.
The Expert Group provided the Government with clinical advice on the distinctions between these impacts. This meant the Government could set severity bands for Hepatitis infections based on clear clinical markers.
As set out in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025, where someone’s experience of Hepatitis, whether it is historic or in the present day, has been more severe, they will receive more compensation. In its Additional Report, published 9 July, the Inquiry stated that “that tiers are relevant to Hepatitis in a way in which they are not in cases of HIV.”
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the differing compensation payments for infected blood scandal victims based on whether they contracted HIV or Hepatitis C.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The impact of a Hepatitis infection can range from very mild to very severe, including liver failure and death as a direct result of the infection. In its second interim report, the Infected Blood Inquiry recommended that the compensation scheme should reflect the different impacts of infection by developing severity bandings.
The Expert Group provided the Government with clinical advice on the distinctions between these impacts. This meant the Government could set severity bands for Hepatitis infections based on clear clinical markers.
As set out in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025, where someone’s experience of Hepatitis, whether it is historic or in the present day, has been more severe, they will receive more compensation. In its Additional Report, published 9 July, the Inquiry stated that “that tiers are relevant to Hepatitis in a way in which they are not in cases of HIV.”
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department provides on holding departmental receptions at the offices of consultant lobbying firms.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
The Ministerial Code sets out guidance for Ministers on engaging with external stakeholders.
Separate guidance relating to the regulation of consultant lobbying is published by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2022 to Question HL 6355 on History: Publications, what recent progress has been made on the publication of Volume 2 of the Official History of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
The Official History of the Joint Intelligence Committee will be published in due course.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of resuming the Official History Programme.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
The Government will consider resumption of the Official History Programme when circumstances allow.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press release, Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service' published on 1 August 2025, whether the socio-economic background criteria for civil service internship schemes proposed for 2026 apply to the internship schemes of (a) arm’s length bodies and (b) public corporations.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As we set out in August, we will be opening our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme exclusively for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. We will determine eligibility based on parental occupation at age 14 in line with guidance from the Social Mobility Commission. The Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme is a cross government internship programme led by the Cabinet Office. All other internship programmes across the Civil Service, arm’s length bodies and public corporations are responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria to suit the specific needs of the recruiting organisation. The exact number of other internship programmes and their eligibility criteria is not held centrally.
For those who do not meet the criteria for the Summer Internship Programme but wish to pursue a career in the Civil Service, there are other opportunities for them to explore via the Civil Service Jobs website (https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/) or the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/).