Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will waive the requirement for bereaved partners of people infected with NHS-supplied contaminated blood to prove that they were cohabiting with their former partner at the time of death.

The Department considers the requirement to provide evidence of cohabitation in order to claim the £10,000 lump sum payment to bereaved partners or spouses important to be fair to everyone and reflects our intention to provide support to partners or spouses in recognition of their relationship with the registrant/primary beneficiary at time of death.

We recognise this is a sensitive issue and so we have produced a clear policy aimed at ensuring this information can be collected in as sensitive and straightforward a manner possible from bereaved partners or spouses.