In the House of Commons yesterday, the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, John Glen MP, provided an update to MPs on the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry. This follows on from his previous statement in November and was delivered shortly before the House of Lords began its debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill.
In his statement, Mr. Glen emphasised that the priority is to ensure that victims receive the justice they deserve. Nevertheless, as with statements made by previous Paymaster Generals, Mr. Glen could not provide specific details or timelines regarding the Government’s progress. Instead, he mostly reiterated the commitments mentioned during the vote to pass the amendment for the establishment of a compensation scheme two weeks ago:
- The Department of Health and Social Care will fully implement a bespoke psychological service for people infected and affected by contaminated blood products in England. This service has already been in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for several years.
- The Government will provide their official response to Parliament within 25 sitting days of the publication of the final report from the Inquiry.
- The Government has recently appointed clinical, legal and social care experts to advise the Cabinet Office on the technical considerations of the compensation scheme recommendations made by the Inquiry. No details were provided on why this was only happening now.
Following his statement, Mr Glen then responded to several questions made by MPs from all parties on the continued delays from the Government. Co-Chair of the APPG for Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood, Sir Peter Bottomley, expressed the sentiment from MPs by stating that “we are not doing enough, fast enough.” Despite repeated questions asking for a faster resolution and more detail on the work being carried out, the Minister was unable to provide any re-assurances other than his expectation that this matter will be concluded following the publication of the final report.
Later that evening, the House of Lords began its second reading of the Victims and Prisoners Bill, which now contains the provisions introduced in the House of Commons for setting up a compensation scheme within three months of the Bill becoming law. The members debated the main principles of the entire Bill and raised any concerns they had on areas where further amendments may be needed.
Overall, the response to the new Clause 40 on compensation was favourable from the House with several members welcoming the addition of this amendment and, as pointed out by Baroness Meacher, “this should have been done decades ago.”
The Bill now moves forward to the committee stage which will take place in the Lords on the 24th of January 2024. At this point the bill will be examined in much greater detail and changes, or new amendments will be discussed and put forward for the final third reading.
Shortly before this, the Inquiry will open registration on January 17, 2024, for attendance at the event coinciding with the publication of the final report in March 2024.
Links to the full Hansard reports from both Houses can be found here: