Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health of 20 July 2015, Official Report, column 1221, when he plans for the public consultation on support available for people affected by contaminated blood products to begin.

The Department is considering wider reform of financial assistance and other support for those affected with HIV and/or hepatitis C by infected NHS-supplied blood or blood products. We are doing this within the context of the spending review and in a way that is sustainable for the future and we plan to consult on scheme reform before the end of the year.

Before the election, the Prime Minister announced an additional £25 million to ease transition to a reformed system of payments for affected individuals. The Department is currently considering how that money will be used.