Last week, the co-chairs of Haemophilia Scotland sent a letter to the Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds, the new UK Paymaster General, welcoming him to the role and to express our serious concerns over the proposed Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.
The letter highlights the limited time available for Parliament to progress further provisions on the compensation scheme before the 24 August 2024 deadline set within the Victims and Prisoners Act. We requested that the Minister refrains from advancing any secondary legislation until he has had the opportunity to engage and consult with the relevant charities and campaign groups, which the previous government failed to do adequately in the past.
The letter also includes a summary of the major failings of the proposed scheme and where it deviates from the recommendations made by both Sir Brian Langstaff in his Interim Compensation Report from the Infected Blood Inquiry and Sir Robert Francis’s Compensation Framework Study. This list is in no way complete and is used to highlight the many flaws within the current proposal and why it is imperative for the new Parliament to pause and reflect on the scheme and the feedback provided by the community before passing any further legislation.
Sir Robert Francis is expected to meet the new Paymaster General to discuss the feedback received from the engagement meetings with campaign groups and the written submissions made last month. We will publish an update on any new information from this, or in response to our letter, as soon as possible.
The letter to the Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds is available to read here.