Contaminated Blood

Chloe Smith Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ben Gummer]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his measured words. He is right to say that it falls to this Parliament to come to a reasonable and fair conclusion. He is also right to point to the Prime Minister’s apology. I know from my own experience of talking to victims that that was a very important moment for many.

The right hon. Gentleman asks about the £25 million. What I meant by my remarks is that I hope it will be spent this year in furtherance of the transition to a new scheme, but should money not be spent it will not be squirreled away for other purposes. It will remain allocated for beneficiaries.

On the timing of the statement, our purpose was to update Parliament on progress as soon as possible. Beneficiaries have been waiting for 30 years, so it is understandable that they would like to see faster work. We are working at full pelt, but that work has to be done in tandem with discussions on the spending review. This will be one of the first outcomes from the review, which is why we anticipate having a transition to the new scheme and a consultation finished by the end of this year.

Finally, the right hon. Gentleman refers to a panel and to the work done by the Hillsborough inquiry. I know he has personal experience of that, not least because of his own extraordinary work in bringing it about. I would suggest that in this instance speed is of the essence. I think we all understand where we need to get to. We need to ensure that the new scheme is comprehensive in addressing the perceived and actual failings in the existing five schemes, and that that is done as quickly as possible. I would not like an inquiry to get in the way of the speed with which we can do that.

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

Will the Minister help me with two things? First, a constituent of mine said over the weekend that this looks like another case of the Government saying they are going to do something and then doing nothing. I am sure my hon. Friend will be able to reassure my constituent that that is not the case. Secondly, will he give us an update on making the new generation of drugs available to sufferers as quickly and as fully as possible?

[Ben Gummer]

My hon. Friend is entirely right to say there are some exciting medicinal prospects on the horizon. The demands, especially on those for hepatitis C, have to be seen in the round of all sufferers of hepatitis C, but this is an additional factor to be played in. We hope the particular group affected by hepatitis C will be considered by NHS England as part of its discussions on how to take forward future cures.

Penrose reported just before the election. There is an enormous amount of work going on in the Department at the moment, and this is a priority for the Department. We know we need to move quickly. I want to reassure my hon. Friend ‘s constituents that we want to have this matter settled before the end of the year.