Contaminated Blood

Debate between Diana Johnson and Jonathan Djanogly

Tuesday 12th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s comments. It is important to recognise that in this case there has never been an admission of liability from the Department of Health or the NHS in respect of what happened to these individuals; they have always taken the view that nobody could have known at the time about the problem with the infected blood. I want to make the point that this is not a court of law; this is Parliament, and we are being asked to deal with a clear wrong that has been done to our constituents. We know that these people were damaged and harmed by the treatment they received from the NHS—by the state. What we need to do now is put together a proper support package to ensure that those affected and their families are at the heart of what we do and whatever scheme is proposed.

[Mr Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon) (Con)]

I apologise for having to leave very shortly, but I commend the hon. Lady on her sterling work on this cause. In the case of my constituent Mr Tony Farrugia and his brothers, who are campaigning here today, the situation is exactly as she describes; it is about the complexity of all the schemes. Because his father died in 1986, before the trust was set up, his mother never received any money at all, and that remains the case today under what is being proposed. That seems very unfair to me.

[Diana Johnson]

I absolutely agree—

Justice

Debate between Diana Johnson and Jonathan Djanogly

Tuesday 4th September 2012 Ministerial Corrections

[Diana Johnson]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people (a) in Hull and (b) nationally have been waiting more than 12 months for an employment and support allowance appeal.

[Official Report, 18 April 2012, Vol. 543, c. 432-33W.]

Letter of correction from Jonathan Djanogly:

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) on 18 April 2012. The figure for the average waiting times for employment and support allowance appeals in Hull was incorrect.

The full answer given was as follows:

[Mr Djanogly]

It is not possible to provide the number of employment and support allowance (ESA) appeals that are over 12 months old at this time because the data does not form part of the published statistics and so was not extracted the last time the statistics were produced. To ensure the consistency and integrity of data, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) only provides data based upon published statistics. I will therefore arrange for the number of appeals over 12 months old nationally and in Hull to be supplied to the hon. Member when the next social security and child support data are published for the quarter to March 2012.

The following table shows the average time taken from receipt of an appeal until the date of the first appeal hearing at HMCTS for ESA appeals nationally and in Hull. The information covers 1 April 2011 to 31 December 2011, the latest period for which published data is available.