Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a compensation award recognising the death of an infected person under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme separate from the Injury Award.

The Government recognises that no amount of money can make up for the pain caused by death due to the use of infected blood. Our focus is on supporting IBCA to deliver compensation as swiftly as possible.

The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme recognises the untimely death of an infected person through the Injury award. Injury awards are higher where the severity of a person’s infection means that the infection has caused or is expected to cause an early death in the future (i.e., HIV, Hepatitis B/C cirrhosis, Hepatitis B/C decompensated cirrhosis or liver cancer).

This is to enable infected people to receive an award which acknowledges instances where the infection is likely to have led or will lead to an early death.

All affected people receive an Injury and Social Impact award in their own right. These awards are linked to the relevant infected person’s severity banding. This means affected people receive higher levels of compensation where their loved one’s infection caused, or is likely to cause, their early death.