Written question asked by Lord Morris of Manchester (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Thornton (Labour) on Monday, 29 March 2010.

Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Public Health, Gillian Merron, on 12 March (Official Report, Common, col. 562W), whether they will itemise their estimate of the costs of implementing the recommendations on compensation in Lord Archer of Sandwell's report on contaminated blood and blood products.

Answer: Our initial estimate of £3 billion to 3.5 billion was based on an understanding that individual payments made in Ireland to infected patients ranged between £500,000 and £1 million, and was derived by multiplying the average of those figures by the estimated number of infected claimants in the United Kingdom. It did not take account of payments to dependents of those infected. It is not possible to calculate an accurate figure for the cost of implementing the recommendations for compensation contained in Lord Archer's report because the Irish scheme uses a series of eligibility criteria, which means that different claimants have received different amounts of compensation, depending on their circumstances. Therefore, unless each UK claimant is assessed individually against the same criteria, it would be impossible to give an accurate figure. It is also not possible to estimate with any certainty how many people in the UK might be eligible to apply.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 2876; 718 c347WA
Session: 2009-10
Related items: Blood: Contamination
Friday, 12 March 2010
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Compensation Costs Contamination Blood NHS Blood transfusions Contaminated Blood and Blood Products Inquiry
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk