Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of when the Government will make an interim payment to victims and families of victims who received infected blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.

I refer the hon Member to the statement I made in the House on 15 December where I announced that the moral case for compensation was formally accepted. I also set out the work being carried out across government in consideration of the compensation framework study - which included specific reference to those groups who were not able to claim interim compensation.

This work is intended to ensure that the Government is prepared to act swiftly in response to Sir Brian Langstaff’s final report when it is delivered.