Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the differing compensation payments for infected blood scandal victims based on whether they contracted HIV or Hepatitis C.

The impact of a Hepatitis infection can range from very mild to very severe, including liver failure and death as a direct result of the infection. In its second interim report, the Infected Blood Inquiry recommended that the compensation scheme should reflect the different impacts of infection by developing severity bandings.

The Expert Group provided the Government with clinical advice on the distinctions between these impacts. This meant the Government could set severity bands for Hepatitis infections based on clear clinical markers.

As set out in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025, where someone’s experience of Hepatitis, whether it is historic or in the present day, has been more severe, they will receive more compensation. In its Additional Report, published 9 July, the Inquiry stated that “that tiers are relevant to Hepatitis in a way in which they are not in cases of HIV.”