Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the reformed discretionary support scheme for people affected by contaminated blood will consider (a) housing benefit or (b) jobseeker's allowance in calculating eligibility for financial support for (i) widows and widowers of people affected and (ii) other beneficiaries.

In 2017/18, as part of the wider reform of the Infected Blood Payments Scheme in England, a new discretionary scheme will replace the current three discretionary schemes. The new discretionary scheme is in design and the relationship between receipt of welfare support and eligibility for discretionary support from the new scheme has yet to be decided.