Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to expedite compensation payments under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme; and whether he will review the current timetable.

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). The IBCA Framework Document, published in March 2025, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of next year and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029. The Government has been clear that these dates are not targets for delivery, but ‘backstops’.

In July 2025, I asked for a review of IBCA's delivery of the scheme to ensure it is progressing as quickly as possible. This was supported by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, NISTA, and led by an independent reviewer. The review began in August 2025 and ended in October 2025. I published the report on 30 October 2025, and you can find it here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infected-blood-compensation-authority-independent-review/infected-blood-compensation-authority-independent-review.

The review of IBCA’s delivery of the Scheme, supported by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, found that IBCA has made “substantial early progress” toward delivering compensation to the victims of infected blood. IBCA has now opened the service for all cohorts. As it did with the first group of people making a claim, IBCA is now building a service for all cohorts.This approach means that the numbers will initially be lower, but I expect that, as with the first group, those numbers will rise exponentially as progress is made.