Contaminated Blood
Debate between Chris Stephens and Ben Gummer(9 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Ben Gummer
We shall be consulting this year, the consultation will be concluded by the end of the calendar year, and we hope that a new scheme will be up and running as soon as possible after that. It will, of course, depend slightly on the outcome of the consultation, but I expect the scheme to follow very rapidly on the heels of its conclusion. None of us has an interest in delaying this any further.
Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)
First, may I ask the Minister to take this opportunity to apologise to my constituents, who are very upset that the statement was made in the other place on Friday afternoon? Does he also acknowledge that these delays—indeed, any delays on this issue—compound the original error, and can he assure the House that we will be updated regularly so that all Members can represent their constituents on this matter?
Ben Gummer
I hope the hon. Gentleman will pass the message on to his constituents that we were doing the House a courtesy in explaining that we were making progress and outlining a consultation timetable, and that the substantive statement will come in due course owing to the amount of work needed to make sure it is as full and thorough as possible. That is why we made the written ministerial statement. We intend to move as quickly as possible, as we have promised to do.