Infected Blood Compensation Scheme

Seamus Logan Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

I am sure the whole House will join me in expressing our sympathies with the situation that my hon. Friend’s constituent and her family have been through. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will aim to ensure that appropriate advice and support is available to assist people in managing their compensation awards, in accessing financial services and, where relevant, in accessing benefits advice. Sir Robert Francis KC recommended in his report that legal support be available to people who want to claim compensation; the Government and I have accepted that recommendation. We will work with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to develop the package of support services.

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

One of the report’s recommendations is that charities and support organisations that provide advice to victims and their families be placed on a statutory funding basis. Can the Minister confirm that the Government’s intention is to implement that recommendation?

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

If I understand the hon. Gentleman’s intervention correctly, he is talking about the different organisations that already exist. We will consider all the recommendations in the round, but he is absolutely right to highlight the hugely important role of those organisations. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will look to work with the different support organisations. That is vital.

The scheme is based on the recommendations and principles put forward by the inquiry. In line with those, and supported by advice from the inquiry response expert group, it was updated following the engagement exercise that Sir Robert Francis KC undertook in June with victims and representatives of the infected blood community. The Government have sought to design a fair and comprehensive compensation scheme, which will also be quick and simple for eligible applicants to access.

I turn first to eligibility. The scheme and the regulations define people who are eligible as infected people, in line with recommendation 2 of the inquiry’s second interim report. That covers people infected with HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B, and it includes people directly infected by treatment with blood as well as people indirectly infected via transmission from a directly infected person.

Secondly, the regulations establish a core route for claiming compensation as an infected person. The core route provides for compensation to be awarded under five categories or heads of loss, as set out in recommendation 6 of the inquiry’s report: an injury impact award, a social impact award, a care award, a financial loss award and an autonomy award. Together, they will comprise the total compensation award to infected individuals, or to the estate of any deceased infected individuals, to recognise the wide-ranging harm resulting from their infection.

Earlier this year, the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 established the Infected Blood Compensation Authority in law to deliver the scheme. I am proud to have campaigned with many Members across the House to have delivered that change in legislation; I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) for his role. I am proud that this Government are now delivering on that commitment.

The regulations before the House will provide the Infected Blood Compensation Authority with the legal powers that it needs to begin making payments. They also provide further detail on how it will accept applications and pay awards. The authority, under the chairmanship of Sir Robert Francis, has been working hard to design and implement effective, simple and secure processes that put the infected blood community at the heart of its work.

Last week, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority reached out to the very first claimants under the scheme. The authority is taking a test-and-learn approach that will ensure that it can take feedback on board and improve the service before it opens its full compensation service. I hope that that step provides confidence that we are absolutely committed to driving forward progress to meet our shared intention of beginning payments by the end of this year, as I have previously said to the House. I will do everything in my power to ensure that all those who are entitled to compensation receive it as soon as possible.

Infected Blood Inquiry

Seamus Logan Excerpts

Friday 26th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

First, I think the whole House will have every sympathy with the situation that my hon. Friend’s constituents and their family find themselves in. In the scheme, there are of course those who were infected and those who were affected, who include partners, parents, children, siblings and, quite rightly, those who provided care to infected people, because there were often situations where the carers were not necessarily close relatives but none the less provided significant care. If my hon. Friend could please write to me, I can ensure that there is an appropriate ministerial meeting.

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

I too congratulate you, Madam Deputy Speaker, on your recent elevation.

I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement, which was very welcome. I echo his words by acknowledging that the infected blood inquiry is one of the greatest scandals of our age. I pay tribute to the victims and their families, who have fought tirelessly to bring matters to this point.

I am glad to hear that the Minister is committed to meeting the 24 August deadline for laying regulations to establish the final compensation scheme, but I am a little disappointed that he did not set out a full timescale for the full operation of the scheme. It would be helpful if he said a little more about that. Will he comment on his commitment to working closely with the Scottish Government on the scheme’s implementation in Scotland, to ensure that victims seeking redress face no further delay?

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

I echo what the hon. Gentleman said about the scale of the scandal and his appropriate tribute to the victims. On the timescale, as I indicated in my statement, the additional interim payments to the estates of the infected will start from October. As I indicated at questions yesterday in respect of the full scheme, I would expect the final compensation payments to start being paid from the end of this year.

It is my intention to meet the Health Ministers of the devolved Administrations in my native Wales, in Scotland and in Northern Ireland. I am committed to working with the devolved Administrations. As I indicated earlier, they will have a key role to play in the memorialisation process, too.

Debate on the Address

Seamus Logan Excerpts

Wednesday 17th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

Thank you for calling me to speak, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech during this important debate. Like others, I wish to congratulate all those who have spoken before me, particularly those who made their maiden speeches, not least the hon. Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) whose contribution was very substantial.

I am originally from the village of Dunloy in the north-east of Ireland. I represent the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency in the north-east of Scotland. I paid close attention when the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) was advising new Members on our ambitions for the future, particularly because I want to share my ambition. I am the first MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East and I hope to be the last MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

This is a coastal area that stretches from the River Spey in the west to Cruden Bay in the south. It is an area noted not only for its industry, but for the industriousness of its people and its communities. Its long-standing economic strengths are in farming, fishing and their associated sectors, including food and drink production, and, in more recent times, in the oil and gas industries and their supply chain. The area makes a substantial and significant contribution to the nation’s energy security and food security.

We are now undergoing a new industrial revolution associated with the renewables sector. As the world adapts to new challenges, I believe that it is our duty in this Parliament to capitalise on the opportunities that now present themselves in the north-east of Scotland. It is also a most beautiful area—something of an undiscovered gem—with a developing tourism industry. Members will remember that the next time they enjoy a single malt, an Aberdeen Angus steak, a prawn cocktail or perhaps a fish supper, because the chances are that they came from the industries based in my constituency.

There is also significant poverty—in particular child poverty—in this otherwise prosperous area. Although this is mainly concentrated in larger towns, it is also a challenge in villages and rural areas where it is often less visible. Recent figures suggest that around 5,500 children in this constituency are living in serious poverty—some of them in absolute poverty. To be clear that means that they do not have enough money to meet basic needs for shelter, clothing and food. That is something that we should all remember in our position of privilege, and it is something that we should all work together on to change.

I want to pay tribute to the outgoing MP, David Duguid, who represented the previous Banff and Buchan constituency, which disappeared in the recent boundary changes. Some Members will know that David experienced sudden and significant ill-health before the general election was called. I wish him a speedy and full recovery. David was an excellent MP who did his best to represent everybody in the constituency, but most notably the interests of the energy, fishing and farming industries. His efforts were in stark contrast to the way that he was treated in the end when he was effectively deselected by his colleagues. I wish David and his family well in whatever their future plans may involve. I also wish to acknowledge the work of the last SNP MP in this area, Eilidh Whiteford, who was an outstanding political representative.

Today in the King’s Speech, the Government had an opportunity to immediately abolish the harmful two-child cap on child benefit and the notorious rape clause, which my former colleague, the outgoing MP for Glasgow Central, Alison Thewliss, worked so hard to end. The failure to do this is an early indictment of the Government’s policy position. I was encouraged when I heard contributions from the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier) and the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). But what about the contribution from the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) when he said, “No ifs, no buts, just do it.”?

It is simply not good enough for the people of Scotland, an energy rich nation, to pay so much to heat their homes while so many of their bairns are living in absolute poverty. I will be focusing on this issue over the course of this Parliament. I will seek to defend the interests of our farming and fishing industries, to protect our public services and to help realise the potential of renewable energy and carbon capture to deliver jobs and economic growth. But, above all, I shall be a voice for the weak and the disadvantaged. After 14 years of austerity, we need a change of direction, not more of the same. I wish to make special mention of the WASPI women who have been so unfairly treated by successive Governments, and who deserve compensation.

To conclude, I thank the people of my constituency for their support at the ballot box, my colleagues in the SNP and in other parties, and the various members of House staff on the Westminster estate, who have been so welcoming and helpful on my arrival and during my induction.

Finally—and Members would not expect me to say anything less—I will be working hard in this place and elsewhere to press the case for the people of Scotland to be afforded their democratic rights to determine their own future.