The Infected Blood Inquiry hearings concluded yesterday with Sir Brian Langstaff announcing a second Interim Report on compensation will be passed to the UK Government before Easter. During his closing statement Sir Brian also set out clearer expectations on the public release of his Final Report.
The Inquiry Chair explained his more realistic timescales on when the final Inquiry Report will be published, following suggestions that it would be released sometime in the summer. Sir Brian confirmed that this will not be the case and that the Final Report will be released sometime in the Autumn of 2023 and not earlier. Parliament is in recess between late July till early September, so it will be sometime after this period.
Sir Brian then went on to say that after considering the closing written and oral statements made by the legal representatives over the past few weeks, he had written to the UK Paymaster General to inform the Government of his intention to make a further Interim Report on the framework for compensation. This is expected to be made before Easter and the Inquiry will inform core participants of its expected release one week before publication.
No details on what will be included in the Interim Report have been provided other than it will be about the Compensation Framework Study by Sir Robert Francis KC.
Sir Brian Langstaff’s statement in full can be viewed here