Infected Blood Inquiry

There be forms (devised by IBCA) for people to register and apply for a core award and the supplementary awards with/without the necessary evidence and with/without calculation of compensation, and as an intermediate step that IBCA provide the option to move straight to the declaration stage for individuals providing all the necessary information.

IBCA include a prominent reference to the availability of legal support paid by IBCA on all registration and application forms and in public information about the compensation scheme and that the Solicitors Regulation Authority remind solicitors of their obligations.

When IBCA opens up the service beyond people infected and registered with the support schemes, IBCA: (i) update the sequencing to three cohorts, people infected and never compensated, the deceased infected, and people affected and (ii) adopt a scheme of prioritisation within each cohort which can be objectively applied and is easily understandable and (iii) progress the cohorts in parallel not sequentially.

IBCA should publish: guidance, advice or instructions to claim managers; work undertaken by IBCA with the Cabinet Office's policy team to ensure that IBCA understands "in depth the policy intent behind each regulation"; the papers that have been produced by IBCA addressing specific issues within the Regulations – such as the "dating principles paper", the "paper on HIV infection dating" and the "Hepatitis B (post-1972) paper" – and any future similar papers; IBCA's approach to the Hepatitis severity bandings in Schedule 1 to the 2025 Regulations; minutes of the meetings of IBCA's Board (except where publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, or for other special reasons stated by resolution of the Board and arising from the nature of that business or of the proceedings).

In respect of any case in which the advice of a clinical assessor has been given, in relation to the person concerned (and no more widely except with the consent of that person): that person should be told the factual basis on which that advice has been given; and the reasons for that advice. Such information must be shared with the individual in writing in sufficient detail so that they, and where represented, their solicitor, can understand and where appropriate challenge the correctness of that advice.

A formal role be given within IBCA for an advisory body consisting of people infected and affected, covering a range of experience broadly representative of those groups, and (if those groups so wish) including clinicians covering the major relevant disciplines of hepatitis and liver disease, HIV, transfusion, haemophilia, psychosocial aspects and palliative care. The advisory body should choose its chair, and the chair should be formally invited to each and every meeting of the Board of IBCA, and be given observer status.

To build confidence that IBCA is actively listening to people infected and affected, IBCA adopt more of a structured response to contributions from people infected and affected. Consideration should be given, as a minimum, to making a contemporaneous record of IBCA's understanding of the matters that had been raised in meetings with people infected and affected and setting out IBCA's response to each point.

The Government and IBCA establish a mechanism by which individuals or organisations may raise concerns which arise about any aspect of the scheme which from time to time is troubling them. The mechanism is intended to help continuous improvement of, and/or aid understanding of, any aspect of the scheme. It should involve identifying a person or body to whom any such concern should be expressed, whose role it is to consider the concern, log it, and ensure that a person of appropriate seniority either responds to it in writing, or ensure that it is placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the advisory body or IBCA's Board or is considered by the Cabinet Office and Minister as appropriate.

For the calculation of Financial Loss awards for Hepatitis B, people born after 1953 should be treated like those born in or before 1953 on provision of evidence that their health did not improve or that it remained difficult to find work from 2009. For the calculation of Financial Loss awards for Hepatitis C, people born after 1961 should be treated like those born in or before 1961 on provision of evidence that their health did not improve or that it remained difficult to find work from 2017.

Where the level of severity of a person's infection at Level 3 or more has been established to IBCA's satisfaction in relation to a given year, but it is not known when it reached Level 3 or more, the legislative provisions should apply to deem the level of severity in the years which preceded that given year.

Regulation 14(2)(c) be amended to remove the requirement for evidence of the date of diagnosis of Hepatitis B or C. An appropriate redraft to achieve this would be: "where the diagnosis mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) is one of HIV, the date on which it was given."

The IBSS cut-off date of 31 March 2025 be reviewed, that the scheme should as soon as possible reinstate support payments to partners bereaved after 31 March 2025 until such time as they receive compensation and that they should have a continuation of those payments as an option in their compensation package.