Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Statement of 20 July 2015, Official Report, column 1221, on contaminated blood, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the issue of contaminated blood.

The four United Kingdom health departments have been working closely together on this matter; officials in the Department of Health in England have had regular contact with their counterparts in the three devolved administrations and will continue to do so. In addition this matter was one of the subjects discussed in a recent call I had with Scottish Health Ministers.

The Scottish Government is undertaking its own consultation into scheme reform with patient groups within Scotland, and we look forward to being able to see the results of this activity. When we launch our own consultation later this year, we will continue to work with the Scottish government.