The Government understands that the delay on the part of successive governments to take heed of the need for a public inquiry to be held into this matter has led to a fundamental loss of trust in authority for those who have been infected and affected. The recommendations made in the Inquiry’s May 2024 report are being taken very seriously, with work being taken forward across Whitehall, with devolved governments, and external bodies to scrutinise and address them all in full.

In August 2024, we published a summary of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. The detail set out on recommendation 1 fulfils the formal obligation to respond to the recommendations made in the Second Interim report. However, as we have outlined, the position on Compensation was not just informed by the Second Interim report, but also parliamentary debate, engagement with the Expert Group and engagement with the community, led by Sir Robert Francis.