UK Government Publishes Response to Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Consultation

Press release

Changes to infected blood compensation scheme will improve support for victims

The Government has published its response to the recent public consultation on the proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme.

From: Cabinet Office and The Rt Hon Nick Thomas–Symonds MP Published 14 April 2026

• The Government has published its response to the recent public consultation on the proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme
• These changes will mean more compensation for those who have been impacted by the infected blood scandal, totalling around £1bn in compensation payments sent out to victims, as part of the wider £11.8 billion allocated by the government in the 2024 Autumn budget to compensate victims
• For infected people, the changes will increase the amount of core compensation available, and for affected people, additional core compensation will be available to those eligible. The Government has now published its response to the 12-week public consultation on the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, which received over 700 responses.

This response highlights several areas of action that will be taken to improve compensation payments for the infected blood community, with this Government remaining committed to listening to the community and ensuring they receive the compensation they deserve.

All of the changes being made to the scheme will either meet or go further than the proposals set out in the initial consultation document, with regulations being brought forward later this year to implement these.

As of 7 April, 3,273 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £2.6 billion. This is in addition to the £1.4 billion already paid out in interim payments.

The Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:

While this government understands no amount of money will make up for the suffering endured by the infected blood community, I hope that these changes to the compensation scheme demonstrate our commitment in ensuring this community receives the compensation they rightly deserve.
The areas in which the government will be making significant changes are:

• Those eligible for the Special Category Mechanism (SCM) will receive additional financial loss and care compensation through a new award
• Applications to the new SCM award will also be welcomed from those who can show that they require further compensation for psychological harm.
• A new ‘level 2b’ award will mean that people who suffered from the side-effects of interferon treatment can receive more compensation for this
• Removing the 25% deduction applied to past care compensation for people who choose to receive support scheme payments for life
• Introducing a new award to recognise exceptional loss, for those who can demonstrate their infection prevented them from entering a highly paid career or disrupted their career progression
• Changing the eligibility criteria so that everyone treated for a bleeding disorder within a specific time period will receive an unethical research award and increasing the value of these awards.
• Increasing the size of injury awards for some affected people The Government is also establishing a new route for the community to raise concerns with the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme about the scheme design or delivery. This will mean the Cabinet Office and IBCA will publish quarterly summaries of the feedback received on the compensation scheme delivery, and any action being taken as a result, therefore increasing the transparency of how the communities concerns are dealt with.

The Government’s priority remains on focusing on the delivery of compensation payments without undue delay, and ensuring applicants only need to provide the minimum possible evidence to receive their compensation.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• You can find the Government’s full response to the consultation online.
• The consultation was open for responses for 12 weeks, from 30 October 2025 to 22 January 2026, and received 710 responses.
• As of 7 April, IBCA has contacted 3,942 people to start their compensation claim, and 3,754 have started the claim process. 3,273 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £2.6 billion, and so far 3,161 people have accepted their offers.
• The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Technical Expert Group (TEG) has also published their report of their final advice to Government on changes to the scheme today (14 April 2026).

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Updates to this page

Published 14 April 2026