Hansard

This afternoon, we are debating a motion that the Parliament should agree that the relevant UK Government amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill that were tabled on 17 April 2024 should be considered by the UK Parliament. The amendments provide for the setting up of an infected blood compensation body and make provision for further interim compensation payments to certain infected blood victims. The Scottish Parliament is having to consider the motion at very short notice because the UK Government was able to table its amendments in Westminster only at a very late stage.

What happened to infected blood victims is a terrible tragedy—one for which the Scottish Government has apologised, and I do so again today. I pay tribute to the families and support organisations in Scotland that I have had the privilege of meeting over the past year. The families have been resolute in their work to ensure that the plight of their loved ones is not ignored, and we should all learn from their dignity, focus and strength.

In its closing submissions to the infected blood inquiry, which was chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, the Scottish Government confirmed that it recognises the strong case for provision of compensation for all those who were infected with hepatitis and/or HIV, as well as for bereaved relatives, as a result of infected blood or blood products from the national health service. Given that context, I support the policy intent behind the UK Government’s amendments, which will enable the implementation of the inquiry’s recommendations, as set out in its second interim report.

The inquiry has recommended that compensation should be provided by one UK-wide scheme to ensure consistency of approach, regardless of where in the UK an applicant lives or where they were infected. The inquiry also noted that a single scheme would allow for that scheme to be established more quickly, allow for efficient processing of applications and ensure that the scheme had appropriate and consistent legal and medical expertise.

The UK Government’s amendments provide for the setting up of a new arm’s-length body called the infected blood compensation authority, which will deliver the infected blood compensation scheme. The scheme will be funded by the UK Government, which is entirely appropriate, given that the victims were infected before devolution. The amendments contain provision for the arm’s-length body to be legally established on royal assent, which should facilitate progress.

Much of the detail of the compensation scheme, including eligibility and payment levels, will be set out in regulations, and I know that that has caused some concern among some victims. The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, John Glen MP, wrote to me on the day that the amendments were tabled. In my response, I have stressed the need for the details of the compensation scheme to be set out as quickly as possible. I have also emphasised that the Scottish Government should be fully involved and consulted on its plans.

The inquiry’s second interim report also recommended that further interim compensation payments of £100,000 should be made to certain relatives of infected people, following the previous £100,000 interim payments that were made to infected people or their bereaved partners. In response, the UK Government amendments make provision for payments to the estates of infected people who have sadly died, as a pragmatic method of ensuring that family members of the deceased get some compensation reasonably quickly. In my letter to the minister for the Cabinet Office, I underlined that those estate payments should be made as quickly as possible.

There is no doubt that the UK Government’s last-minute lodging of amendments has left the Scottish Government in a difficult position, with very little opportunity to negotiate changes. However, given that the amendments represent a concrete step towards providing compensation to the victims of this terrible tragedy and ensuring that relatives who have received nothing or little so far receive interim compensation, I recommend that the Scottish Parliament give its consent.

Much more will need to be done to get the compensation scheme up and running and to make the further interim compensation payments. As that work progresses, I will seek continued engagement with the UK Government to ensure that the needs of the victims are put at the centre and that the scheme works for all victims in Scotland.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that the relevant amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill tabled by the UK Government on 17 April 2024, relating to an infected blood compensation body and further interim compensation payments, so far as these matters fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament or alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers, should be considered by the UK Parliament.