Resolution of infected blood payments will not require ITV drama, minister says

Thousands died in the infected blood scandal, widely recognised as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS

It will not take an ITV drama for compensation to victims of the infected blood scandal to be resolved, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt has said.

Although the Horizon IT scandal has been “terrible”, she said, the Infected Blood Inquiry “is on another level” and the Government is working through “very difficult issues”.

Thousands died in the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS after being given blood products contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C through in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ms Mordaunt was speaking in the Commons as she faced calls to speed up justice for the victims of other scandals after recent Government announcements on compensating wrongly convicted subpostmasters following the airing of an ITV drama which focused on the issue.

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt (PA) (PA Archive)

While the Commons leader defended the government’s actions in trying to resolve “some very difficult and long-running issues”, she also said she would speak to the Cabinet Office to ensure lessons are learned “particularly” from the last few weeks.

Labour chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee Dame Diana Johnson said: “Does the Leader of the House think it will take an ITV drama for the Government to act quickly on the infected blood scandal which is of course the largest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS?

“And as we already have the recommendations – the final recommendations – on compensation from (Infected Blood Inquiry chairman) Sir Brian Langstaff, why next week can the Government not bring forward a statement setting out that compensation will start to be paid from next week?”

Ms Mordaunt said: “I am confident, and I am in regular touch with the Paymaster General (John Glen), it will not take an ITV drama for us to get this resolved.

“He is working through what (Dame Diana) will know is some very difficult issues.

“He has the final shift in this particular story and I am confident he is going to deliver on it.

“We were all shocked I think by the layer on layer of injustice that was levelled against those that suffered in the Post Office Horizon scandal.”

She added: “Terrible and shocking though that was, the Infected Blood Inquiry is on another level.

“And we want to ensure that these people, whether they were infected directly, or they have been affected in some way, that they get justice.

“We are absolutely determined to do that, and I know that the Paymaster General is going to deliver.”

Diana Johnson said: ‘Does the Leader of the House think it will take an ITV drama for the Government to act quickly on the infected blood scandal?’ (PA)

It came amid a renewed focus on the Post Office scandal driven by the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

Labour MP Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) said the story of “delayed justice” in the Horizon IT scandal “will be familiar to so many people, including my constituents who were caught out in outrageous similar scandals from Grenfell to Windrush to the contaminated blood”.

“In each case ministers tell them that there is nothing they can do until they are forced into action by public shame,” she said, calling for the Government to “make progress” for victims of “other, similar scandals”.

Ms Mordaunt said: “I know that many (MPs) have constituents that are still waiting for compensation or issues to be resolved on a number of fronts.”

She added: “I will raise with the Cabinet Office and ask what more the head of the civil service can do to ensure that lessons are being learned from particularly the last few weeks.”

The Cabinet Office does evaluate performance after public inquiries, she said.

Independent MP Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) said all Fujitsu IT systems being used by the Government should be immediately investigated.

Shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell said the Government “should be learning wider lessons” from the Horizon scandal that could be applied in other cases.

The Labour frontbencher also called for the Government to “expedite compensation” for victims of the Windrush, infected blood and building safety scandals, and “bring in a legal duty of candour demanded by the Hillsborough families”.

Ms Mordaunt said: “I think it is to be welcomed we are now taking these unprecedented steps to quash convictions and I know that that work is well under way and that we want to bring it to the House swiftly.”

She added: “While the inquiry will look at some of the issues that have been raised in this place, I think she is right that we should reflect now on what we could learn and what we should conclude in particular about the powers given to arms-length arms of the state, and what operational independence should actually mean for those organisations.”

Ms Mordaunt said Conservative administrations have been right in “gripping and trying to resolve some very difficult and long-running issues”.

She said: “From Windrush, to the apology given by the now Lord Cameron to the Hillsborough families, to the apology given by former members of our armed forces by this Prime Minister, who had been shamed and driven out of service for being gay, to the 2017 infected blood inquiry and the later compensation study which will make some amends for the decades of injustice and suffering people have endured.

“I am optimistic that we will reach some justice for those affected in this year, and I know the Paymaster General is working to do that.”

Under an initial compensation scheme for the infected blood scandal, only victims themselves or bereaved partners can receive an interim payment of around £100,000.

The inquiry’s chairman has said relatives, including parents who lost children and children orphaned when their parents died, remain “unrecognised” when it comes to compensation.

And there have been calls for the Government to speed up efforts to pay full compensation to victims.