Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's consultation response, entitled Infected Blood Support: Special Category Mechanism, published on 28 September 2017, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) bereaved partners or spouses will continue to receive ongoing payments under the new discretionary scheme and (b) those payments will be no smaller than those they currently receive from their respective ex gratia charities.

Discretionary and non-discretionary support will continue at the same level to all beneficiaries who consented to their data being transferred to the new scheme until the end of the financial year. As set out in the recent consultation response, beneficiaries will then receive higher non-discretionary annual payments for the 2018-19 financial year. To ensure discretionary support in the new, single, scheme is balanced, consistent and fair to all beneficiaries, the scheme administrator will conduct a review of all on-going discretionary payments such as income top ups.

On-going discretionary payments to the bereaved will recognise the impact that the loss of a partner will have had in both the immediate and longer term and will afford bereaved individuals more time to adjust to their new situation. As proposed in the consultation, we will include winter fuel payments to the types of support available for the bereaved, in addition to all other types of discretionary support. Furthermore, we will include funeral related expenses to the types of support available to the bereaved through the new discretionary scheme. The one-off £10,000 payment to bereaved partners and spouses will also continue to be available. These changes will ensure bereaved spouses or partners continue to be supported.