Baroness Featherstone

Additional Autonomy awards are available through the compensation scheme’s supplementary route to recognise the suffering of victims subjected to unethical research practices.

The current values of both Unethical Research awards are in line with the recommendations Sir Robert Francis KC made to the Government in August 2024. The Inquiry, in its Additional Report, made a set of recommendations about the Unethical Research awards, including that the Minister for the Cabinet Office consider whether the award values be increased.

In the consultation, we sought views on what approach the Government could take to determine an appropriate value of the Unethical Research award. The consultation closed on 22nd January, and the Government will respond within 12 weeks of the closing date.

The Care award is provided to people making a claim as an infected person or as their estate representative. A living infected person receiving compensation can take a decision on whether all or some of this award should be passed to an affected person. Care awards paid to infected people can therefore be paid directly to affected people on the request of an infected person.

An executor of a deceased infected person's estate will be responsible for administering the estate as per the wishes of the infected person.

The Cabinet Office has carried out analysis under the Public Sector Equality Duty for all regulations made to establish the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. The most recent analysis was published in October and can be viewed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348276077/pdfs/ukdsipes_9780348276077_en_001.pdf.

The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme compensates for the cost of care incurred by someone’s infection in two ways.

A Care award is paid to the infected person as part of their overall compensation claim. A living infected person receiving this compensation can take a decision on whether all or some of this award should be passed to an affected person. An executor of a deceased infected person's estate will be responsible for administering the estate as per the wishes of the infected person.

If someone provided care to an infected person, and is not otherwise eligible for compensation in relation to that person (for example, as their sibling or parent), they may be eligible for compensation as an affected carer. They will need to show that they provided an infected person with care, without reward or remuneration, where the provision of care averaged at least 16.5 hours of care per week over a time period of at least 6 months, after the infection. They will be eligible to receive an injury award and a social impact award.

Whether someone receives part or all of an infected person’s care award, as per the wishes of the infected person, does not affect whether they can apply for the award as a carer, or as any other affected person. The two are not linked, and have no bearing on each other.

The roll out of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is an operational decision for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) as an independent body.

IBCA are contacting an average of 100 people to start their claim every week and expect to have brought in to claim all those who are infected and registered with a support scheme this calendar year. On fast-tracking for specific claimants, IBCA have announced how they are prioritising claims for infected people nearing the end of their lives. IBCA have also committed to starting other groups as soon as they can, and the Government expects IBCA to begin payments to people who are affected by the end of this year.

The Government fully supports IBCA’s commitment to moving forward as swiftly as possible and the Cabinet Office will assist IBCA to speed up the payments in any way we can.

IBCA does not conduct medical checks on people who are claiming compensation. IBCA will request medical information to assess what severity band they sit within, and therefore, what compensation they are due. This is done by a person’s dedicated Claim Manager, and where needed, supported by a Clinical Adviser. This is critical to ensure that a person receives the compensation they are entitled to under the tariff-based compensation Scheme.

The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, is currently subject to a public consultation, which remains open until 12 February 2026.

The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement, in order to ease the impact of changes for particular groups or preserve already afforded permissions by the previous system. No transitional arrangements have been decided upon yet.

Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation. The principles of administrative fairness will be considered in the formulation of the final policy with the aid of the consultation findings. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.

The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.

The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.

The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.