Earlier today, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, made a statement in the House of Commons announcing that the third set of regulations for the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme have now been laid before Parliament for approval.
These regulations include the following five recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report, which the Government accepted in July this year:
- Removing the HIV start date of 1 January 1982 (Recommendation 3a)
- Removing the minimum earnings threshold required to claim the exceptional financial loss award (Recommendation 4c)
- Changes to the deeming provisions for assessing the severity of Hepatitis C (Recommendation 4d)
- Removing the date of diagnosis requirement for Hepatitis B and C (Recommendation 4e)
- Allowing estates of affected people who died between 21 May 2024 and 31 March 2031 to claim compensation if the individual had not yet received it (Recommendation 8b)
What does this mean?
Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will now debate and vote on these regulations. Once approved, the amendments will become law and will be implemented in IBCA’s delivery of compensation. It is expected that this process will be completed, and the changes in place, before the end of this year.
Public consultation on further proposed changes now open
In addition to these regulatory changes, the Government has launched a public consultation on other recommendations made by the Inquiry in July.
This consultation seeks views on several important areas, including:
- Severe psychological harm
- Recognition of the effects of Interferon and similar treatments
- Financial loss
- The ‘severely affected’ Hepatitis C category
- Unethical research
The Government has created an online consultation portal to collect views from infected and affected individuals, charities, campaign groups, and other experts. The link also has details on how to request a Word version of the consultation document if you prefer a physical copy.
The consultation will run from today until 22 January 2026, and we strongly encourage everyone affected to take part. Sharing your views will help ensure the Government fully understands the experiences, concerns, and priorities of the community on these important issues.
You don’t need to complete the entire survey; you are able to simply respond to the sections that matter most to you.
Haemophilia Scotland will be taking time over the next few weeks to prepare our own response to the consultation and will do what we can to support any members who have questions or need help taking part.
Other documents released today by the Government included the Independent Review commissioned by the Cabinet Office on IBCA’s delivery of compensation, and an open letter from the Technical Expert Group to the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the consultation.