Infected Blood Inquiry report: statement from the Cabinet Office

A government spokesperson said:

"This additional report reflects the unprecedented nature of the Infected Blood Scandal and the thoroughness of the Inquiry's investigation.

"We are grateful to the Inquiry for its ongoing work. We will now consider all of its recommendations. 

"Over £300 million has been paid to victims since the compensation scheme opened last October and we are taking action to enable a quicker compensation process."

Further information:

• As of 1 July, 2,043 people have begun their compensation claim and 616 have received an offer of compensation, totalling £488,346,336.18 and 460 have received their compensation payment, totalling £326,184,985.78.
  
• We paid over £1 billion in interim payments to victims before the compensation scheme opened.
  
• Last week, the Government took steps to speed up compensation payments by:
  
• • Using the Victims and Prisoners Act to get records from the Infected Blood Inquiry and using testimony to contribute to assessment of proof of infection, which help some people to prove their eligibility more quickly. 
    
  • Making greater use of manual data records, instead of waiting for automated systems to become available.
    
• Administrative barriers will be unlocked to make compensation payments more quickly