Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025

Baroness Featherstone Excerpts

Wednesday 19th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Patten (Con)]

My Lords, I listened with great care to what the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, said, and I should begin by saying I agree with all the words of regret in her amendment. It seems clear to me that, in recent responses to public inquiries, delay, obfuscation, the rewriting and scrambling of old regulations and the belated—“Oh, good heavens, we didn’t notice that!”—introduction of new regulations are leading to the most painful experiences. Earlier this month, it was not on infected blood but on people in the Post Office who have suffered terribly by delays. There was a postmistress—forgive me, I do not remember her name—who was lamenting the fact that she had been promised compensation, apologies and then suddenly her husband, who was also a postmaster, died. Earlier in March, she was lamenting that justice had not been done because justice had been delayed.

I know it is not meant to be like that and I do not intend to say that people are malicious, but, when I attended the infected blood inquiry for a bit and, in particular, listened to Sir Brian Langstaff, the chairman, who did such a tip-top job in bringing forward his recommendations, he had a very clear charge sheet for how it was all to be done—but it has not happened. He must regret that very much, and I think that those who are due compensation and an apology must be lamenting. Of course, many of them are quite advanced in years and, as the years pass, people die and, just like with the postmaster husband of the unfortunate postmistress widow to whom I have just referred, with great respect, I fear that we are going to see more people at risk of not getting their compensation or their apology and dying because of these new regulations that have been brought in, I believe unnecessarily. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, on what she has done.

I have two requests only. They are pointed requests, but I make no apology for that. The first is to ask the Minister by when—specifically, in which month, in which year—she expects all compensation for the persons infected by blood whom we are talking about to have been completed. If we do not have that, we have no measure of whether these regulations are effective. Equally, could she give me her best estimate, in a letter, perhaps, in her normal courteous way, if she cannot manage it tonight, for understandable reasons, of how long it will take to complete, to the nearest month and the nearest year, for all those carers who also seem to be horribly caught up in this endemic delay, following Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations which are now growing old, as people themselves are growing old?

[Baroness Featherstone (LD)]

My Lords, I am so grateful to my noble friend Lady Brinton for bringing this regret amendment. I know that the Government are trying very hard to get the regulations right, but there are so many concerns about a variety of issues, many of which were raised by my noble friend.

I speak to the Government on behalf of my own family. I am sure that, by now, most of your Lordships will know that my nephew, one of my sister’s twin boys and a haemophiliac, having been infected with hepatitis C, died aged 35, leaving his 10 month-old baby daughter. Yesterday, it was 13 years since his death. I speak also, obviously, on behalf of all infected and affected people. We are incredibly worried. I repeat this every time I speak, not because I want to keep on going on about it but to emphasise that this is not just about financial management; this was people’s lives. I saw my sister and her husband devastated. I saw Jake, Nick’s twin, devastated. His daughter will never know him. Everyone who was affected by the infected blood contamination scandal has such terrible stories to tell.

It seemed, after Sir Brian Langstaff had done such an amazing job, that the nation, the previous Government and this Government got it, finally. However, following all the hope that was raised, what is playing out is an exacerbation of the fears around what is happening. As always, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady May, for instigating the inquiry in the first place. It took 35 or 40 years before that happened, and I think that what she did was wonderful.

All those infected and affected will be listening to or reading this debate—because they hang on every word that we say in Parliament—in hope and desperation that some answer to their prayers is coming, after all their suffering. There are, as I said, many concerns, including around the complexity and lack of clarity. The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee highlighted that the regulations are “overly technical” and lack essential information, including details on application procedures, processing times, payment schedules, assessment criteria and the estimated number of eligible individuals. Those omissions hinder both public understanding and parliamentary scrutiny. That is the regulations themselves. I know the Government are producing a number of things to illustrate how the regulations will work, to make things easier and more accessible, but the regulations themselves are not accessible.

There is massive upset and anxiety about delayed compensation payments. Despite the establishment of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to expedite and manage the process, progress has been beyond slow. As of December 2024—at least on the figures I have, which are slightly different from those of my noble friend Lady Brinton—only 10 out of approximately 4,000 victims had received any compensation. This has led to frustration and anxiety among victims and campaigners, especially considering the urgency due to, as the noble Lord said, the advancing age and health conditions of many of the affected individuals.

There is also concern, as was raised, about the disparities in compensation between hepatitis C victims and HIV victims. Legal experts have raised concerns that the proposed scheme continues to perpetuate these disparities. Specifically, the financial loss component appears to favour HIV patients over HCV patients, despite both groups enduring severe health consequences. This ongoing inequity has been a long-standing issue.

I come now to the burden of proof challenges. The regulations place the onus on applicants to provide evidence of their infection resulting from NHS treatments between 1970 and 1991. Given the passage of time, obviously many medical records have been lost or destroyed, making it difficult for victims or their families to substantiate their claims. This requirement could unjustly exclude eligible individuals from receiving appropriate compensation. I would have thought that, given everyone has a GP, it is not that hard to get confirmation of these things, perhaps without the documents that are officially being required—everyone who has been affected or infected has a medical history.

Administrative delays and additional documentation requirements have led to some victims and their families experiencing unexpected delays due to new documentation demands. For instance, interim compensation payments of £100,000 were expected before Christmas 2024, and they were put on hold for certain bereaved families, pending submission of additional legal documents. These unforeseen requirements have caused further distress among those affected.