Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress he has made on reducing the time taken to provide full compensation to people affected by the infected blood scandal; and what steps he is taking to ensure compensation is provided to victims before they die.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). Whilst the roll out of the scheme is an operational decision for IBCA as an independent body, I fully support their commitment to moving forward as swiftly as possible and as the Minister, I stand ready to help and assist in any way I can to speed up the payments.
IBCA has paid over £96 million in compensation. In April, IBCA wrote to all those who are living with infection and registered with a support scheme and asked those who have less than 12 months to live to come forward. IBCA is now prioritising claims for those who are living with infection and registered with a support scheme and nearing the end of their lives. Going forward, IBCA has outlined that it is aiming to contact an average of 100 people to begin their claim every week. At that rate, they expect to have brought in to claim all those who are infected and registered with a support scheme this calendar year. The Government expects IBCA to begin payments to people who are affected by the end of this year.