Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria or formula they used to determine the awards of £10,000 or £15,000 for injury claims for unethical research under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

Additional Autonomy awards are available through the compensation scheme’s supplementary route to recognise the suffering of victims subjected to unethical research practices.

The current values of both Unethical Research awards are in line with the recommendations Sir Robert Francis KC made to the Government in August 2024. The Inquiry, in its Additional Report, made a set of recommendations about the Unethical Research awards, including that the Minister for the Cabinet Office consider whether the award values be increased.

In the consultation, we sought views on what approach the Government could take to determine an appropriate value of the Unethical Research award. The consultation closed on 22nd January, and the Government will respond within 12 weeks of the closing date.