Infected Blood Compensation Scheme
The question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the different compensation awards available under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme on (a) infected people who are still living and (b) the estates of infected people who have died; and if she will take steps to review those arrangements.
Answered by Cabinet Office
Under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, an infected person’s compensation, whether claimed while living or via an estate, includes the same core award amounts for the Injury, Social Impact, and Autonomy awards. The core Financial Loss and Care awards are awarded differently. An estate is compensated for the financial loss the deceased person experienced from the point of infection to the date of their death. It is reasonable to assume that the infected person would have spent some of their earnings on financially supporting a partner, children, or other dependents. Therefore, the compensation scheme also provides compensation in the form of dependency payments to eligible affected people, which recognise the financial losses they experience as a result of the early death of the infected person. There is no limit on the number of affected people who can claim a dependency award as long as they can provide evidence of their eligibility.
The Government publicly consulted on a number of changes to the compensation scheme between 30 October 2025 and 22 January 2026. The core purpose of this consultation was to gather views on how the Government intends to implement the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations. The Inquiry did not recommend changes to how the Financial Loss award is calculated for estates of deceased infected people. The changes to the compensation scheme made in the recent Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026 reflect directly what we heard in the consultation. The Government is of the view that the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme fairly compensates living infected people and the estates of deceased infected people for the financial loss they have felt as a result of the infection.
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