Policy paper

Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme: Further Interim Payments

Published 21 May 2024

Purpose of this page

The Prime Minister gave a statement on 20th May, apologising on behalf of the Government for the decades of suffering and injustice experienced by those infected and affected by this scandal.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office announced additional interim payments to living infected beneficiaries of the Infected Blood Support Schemes (UK IBSS) on 21 May 2024. This page outlines the relevant eligibility criteria and application information for beneficiaries to receive these payments.

The Government, as part of the Victims and Prisoners Bill, has committed to making interim payments to the estates of those deceased infected beneficiaries not yet recognised. This page sets out the eligibility criteria for those payments and will be updated further with guidance and application information.

The payments outlined in this page are separate from the first set of interim payments that were launched in October 2022. Find out more information on the eligibility and criteria for the first round of interim payments.

Those infected persons and bereaved partners who have not yet registered to a UK IBSS are still eligible to do so.  Infected beneficiaries would then be eligible to receive the initial payment of £100,000 and the further interim payment of £210,000 announced by the Government on 21 May 2024. 

Newly registered bereaved partner beneficiaries may be eligible to receive an interim compensation payment of £100,000, where this has not previously been paid to an infected beneficiary or their estate.

Introduction

On 20 May 2024, the Infected Blood Inquiry published its final report. Following its publication, the Government has committed to making a further set of interim payments to living infected beneficiaries of the UK IBSS of £210,000.

The Government also committed, in the Victims and Prisoners Bill, to make interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of those deceased infected beneficiaries whose deaths have not yet been recognised, in response to recommendation 12 of Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report. 

The Government has previously paid interim payments of £100,000 which began in October 2022. These payments were made in response to the recommendations set out in the interim report of Sir Brian Langstaff, Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on 29 July 2022. 

Description of the Infected Blood Interim Payment Scheme

The Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme is a UK-wide scheme, administered on behalf of the UK Government by the administrators of the UK IBSS, (and in Scotland by the Scottish Ministers in conjunction with the administrators of the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme).^{[footnote 1]}

Existing Infected Blood Support Scheme Administrators

• The NHS Business Services Authority (England)
• The Regional Business Services Organisation (Northern Ireland)
• The Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service (“National Services Scotland”)
• The Velindre Trust and NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (Wales)

Overview

The Government announced on 21 May 2024 additional interim payments to living infected beneficiaries who are already registered with the existing UK IBSS or who register between the date of the announcement and delivery of the final compensation scheme. These payments will be worth £210,000 and will be delivered within 90 days, starting in summer.

The Government will be under a statutory duty to make interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of the deceased infected people who were registered with the existing UK IBSS or previous support schemes run by the Alliance House Organisations (AHO)^{[footnote 2]} before 17 April 2024 for deaths not yet recognised. This would apply where previous interim payments have not already been made to an infected beneficiary or their bereaved partner beneficiary.

Those estates not registered with either an existing UK IBSS or an AHO, will still be eligible for compensation. Further guidance will be provided when the Infected Blood Compensation Authority is operational which will set out details of how to apply for these payments.

Living infected beneficiaries

Application

Eligible beneficiaries already enrolled with one of the UK IBSS will receive the payment automatically. New applications to the Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme are made by first making an application to the relevant UK IBSS. 

Eligibility Criteria

Those living infected beneficiaries currently registered with one of the existing IBSS and those living infected beneficiaries who register with an IBSS scheme before any payments are made under the final compensation scheme by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, are eligible to receive further interim compensation payments. 

• Those living infected beneficiaries currently registered with a UK IBSS who have received a payment of £100,000 already will receive a further payment of £210,000. 
• Those accepted by an IBSS as an infected beneficiary on or after the 21 May until the Infected Blood Compensation Authority begins making payments under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, (and who have not received a payment already) will receive both the payment of £100,000 and the second payment of £210,000.

By ‘currently registered with an existing support scheme’ we mean those living infected beneficiaries (with HIV and/or Hepatitis C) who on 20 May 2024 are registered with either:

• the England Infected Blood Support Scheme,
• The Scotland Infected Blood Support Scheme,
• The Wales Infected Blood Support Scheme or
• the Infected Blood Payment Scheme (Northern Ireland)

and those who register between 21 May 2024 and when the Infected Blood Compensation Authority begins making payments under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. ^{[footnote 3]}

Each interim payment will only be paid once per individual/application. For example, this means:

An individual who is registered with a UK IBSS as an infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) who already received a payment of £100,000, will receive the second payment of £210,000

An individual who registers with a UK IBSS as an infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) on or after 21 May 2024 up until the Infected Blood Compensation Authority begins making payments under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme will receive both the payment of £100,000 and the second payment of £210,000.

An individual, without a partner, who registers with a UK IBSS as a living infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) on or after 21 May 2024, but passes away prior to interim payments being made will still receive the payment of £210,000 via their estate.

An individual, who has a partner, who registers with a UK IBSS as a living infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) on or after 21 May 2024, but passes away prior to interim payments being made still receives the payment of £210,000 via their estate. Their bereaved partner will receive £100,000 if they register with a UK IBSS.

Payments to estates of deceased infected beneficiaries

As part of the Victims and Prisoners Bill, the Government committed to making interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased infected beneficiaries who were not previously recognised in the first round of interim compensation payments.

This page will be updated with further details on the application process for the personal representatives of the estate to receive the payment. 

Eligibility Criteria

Payments of £100,000 will be made to estates of the deceased infected beneficiaries who were registered with a UK IBSS or AHO on or before 17 April 2024 and whose death is not yet recognised through a payment to the infected beneficiary themselves or bereaved partner beneficiaries. 

For example, this means:

The personal representative of an infected beneficiary’s estate who was registered with an IBSS and where no payment has been made in respect of their case (either to them, their bereaved partner, or their estate) under the “Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme”, will receive a payment of £100,000.

The personal representative of an infected beneficiary’s estate who was registered with an Alliance House Organisation and where no payment has been made in respect of their case (either to them, their bereaved partner or their estate) under the “Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme”, will receive a payment of £100,000.

Those infected beneficiaries who were registered with an IBSS on or before 29 July 2022, but subsequently passed away before payments were made in October 2022, and therefore received the first interim payment of £100,000 via an estate are not eligible for a further payment of £100,000.

Applications bought on behalf of an estate that was not registered with an existing IBSS or AHO on or before 17 April 2024, will still be eligible for this payment. These applications will be assessed, and the compensation will be paid, by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority provided the deceased infected person meets the criteria of the Scheme.

1. For the purposes of the IBSS, an “Infected Beneficiary” is defined as people who receive support having been historically infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV from NHS blood, or blood products ↩

2. The Macfarlane Trust, the Eileen Trust, the Skipton Fund, the Caxton Foundation and MFET Ltd ↩

3. The UK IBSS supports people historically infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV from blood or blood products. They also help families, civil or long-term partners after the death of someone infected ↩