Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Lord Patten Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Patten (Con)]

My Lords, time is short not just for speakers in this debate, but increasingly so for the remaining victims of infected blood to get justice after one of the biggest ever failures by the British state on record. Curiously enough, all infected blood records are missing in Northern Ireland, for unknown reasons; therefore, I am speaking simply for England, Scotland and Wales. But I strongly agree with all that my noble friend Lady Brinton has just said in speaking to her regret amendment. For sure, there is an ongoing process to recognise and compensate, but it has been fraught with a lot of confusion, muddle and terrible delays, and still today, no sense of urgency that I can see.

These 10 regulations are in fact just one more skirmish with reality, causing alarm indeed in the way they have been mooted. For example, one correspondent from the infected blood community world, who I do not know, wrote to me out of the blue, thinking that this set of regulations gives the last chance to do anything at all. This is not so, if Ministers decide, for they can change policy and can change pace at will, but I have no sense that this is happening. Indeed, the obfuscation continues. The Minister kindly provided me with a Written Answer earlier this month, telling me that there have been 19,565 claimants to the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, of whom only 3,336 have been paid. That is clear and straightforward, and I thank her for that.

On the other hand, in a parallel Question—again, in this month—about the numbers who have died before settlements, amid quite a chunk of verbiage there was no answer at all about those who have died before settlement has happened. I think we should have this information and it is wrong that we do not. I look to the Minister perhaps to revisit my Question when she has a moment, to see what can be done.

This whole issue has been criss-crossing ministerial desks for decades. It was certainly doing that when the new Prime Minister was himself Secretary of State for Health, which was quite a long time ago. I trust that his door at No. 10 will always be open to the afflicted, and I hope that, while he is Prime Minister, the shutters are never going to come down on those who are afflicted wishing to get access. I warmly welcome the appointment of the new Secretary of State for Health. She is—I say this with respect—a noted Whitehall warrior and has real depth of experience, over decades in ministerial office. I hope she will now get a real grip, as a matter of urgency, on this faltering process, cutting through the administrative thickets before many more die as continuing mortality takes its toll.