Infected Blood Compensation: The Figures Have Changed — But Has Accountability?
The Government’s infected blood compensation figures have changed significantly since the scheme was first proposed. We compare what was originally set out with the figures now being discussed — using the published documents and references so readers can see exactly how the position has changed.
By The Unheard Voice · Aug 31, 2026
For anyone who remembers the first compensation announcements and wonders whether the numbers changed, the original documents are still available.
They deserve to be read alongside the later explanations. But a fair comparison must include everything: the award, earlier interim payments and any continuing support.
This compares 2024 policy documents and announcements, with a brief accountability update from August 2026. It is not a guide to current entitlement or an analysis of actual individual offers.
What was originally published?
On 21 May 2024, the Conservative Government published these illustrative totals for living infected people. They were estimates for the majority within the relevant groups, not minimum-to-maximum limits or individual guarantees. The proposal remained subject to validation and regulations. [1]
Acute hepatitis C — £35,500
Chronic hepatitis B or C — £665,000–£810,000
Hepatitis B or C with cirrhosis — £985,000–£1,130,000
Hepatitis B or C with decompensated cirrhosis, liver cancer or liver transplantation — £1,412,000–£1,557,000
HIV — £2,225,000–£2,615,000
HIV with chronic hepatitis B or C — £2,270,000–£2,660,000
HIV with decompensated cirrhosis, liver cancer or liver transplantation from hepatitis B or C — £2,345,000–£2,735,000
Source: May proposal, “Illustrative Tables”; selected categories. These are living-person totals, not estate awards or individual relatives’ entitlements. [1]
The political timing is clear. Sunak announced the election on 22 May, the following day. Labour won on 4 July. The chronology does not, by itself, prove that compensation figures were designed to win votes. [2]
What did the later examples show?
The Government’s living-person guidance associated with the August 2024 scheme contains fictional worked examples. The available page was updated on 18 December 2024. These are illustrations, not evidence of real payments. [3]
Meera: chronic hepatitis C, with treatment-related illness Comparable May category range: £665,000–£810,000 Later published example: £734,552.80 plus £35,395 annually for life
Henry: HIV and chronic hepatitis C Comparable May category range: £2,270,000–£2,660,000 Later published example: £1,673,661.90 plus £47,809 annually for life
Sandy: chronic hepatitis B Comparable May category range: £665,000–£810,000 Later published example: £917,017 infected-person award
Sources: May category ranges [1]; later examples [3]. Annual support is uprated for inflation. Meera’s and Henry’s figures are before deducting £310,000 in interim compensation. Sandy’s separate £34,000 affected-partner award is excluded from this comparison. [3]
These are category comparisons, not identical people calculated under two different schemes.
Henry’s upfront figure is below the earlier range, but continuing support must also be considered. Meera’s upfront figure sits within the earlier range, with support alongside it. Sandy’s infected-person award exceeds the earlier upper estimate.
Those results do not establish an across-the-board reduction.
Why “the award” and “the amount still to be paid” are different
In the two support-scheme examples, subtracting the £310,000 already received leaves:
Meera: £424,552.80, alongside continuing support.
Henry: £1,363,661.90, alongside continuing support.
These are our arithmetic calculations from the published examples, not additional Government estimates. [3]
Subtracting compensation already paid does not demonstrate that the total entitlement has been cut. The May proposal already provided for interim compensation to be deducted. It also envisaged accounting for support paid after March 2025. [1]
There was, however, an important change in the August policy: eligible support-scheme recipients could continue receiving support for life. Those payments would count towards future financial loss and care, while past losses and the injury, social impact and autonomy awards were treated separately. [4]
A smaller lump sum is not automatically a smaller lifetime package.
Nor does that mean every concern about the package is answered. A fair assessment needs consistent assumptions about age, illness, care, financial loss, duration of payments and inflation. Otherwise, two figures that look comparable may represent different things.
The £13 million headline: what it actually meant
On 12 December 2024, the Government announced that ten people had been offered compensation totalling more than £13 million. It said the first few had accepted, with payments expected in the coming days. This was ten offers — not confirmation that all ten people had been paid. [6]
The average offer therefore exceeded £1.3 million. But an average from ten cases cannot establish a typical award across the community. The announcement alone does not show whether those cases were representative, or support an allegation that they were selected to produce an impressive headline. [6]
That is why the distinction between offers, accepted offers and completed payments matters. Public confidence needs clear explanations alongside large totals.
What readers should be able to see
In our view, the Government should provide a straightforward reconciliation: the same example person, the assumptions behind the May estimate, the later calculation, and an explanation of every material difference.
That would help distinguish a policy change from a different personal history, a deduction for money already received, or the decision to continue support payments.
The documents examined here do not establish that Labour cut every award. They also do not establish that every claimant will receive what the original ranges led them to expect.
Both claims require evidence beyond these examples.
All key figures and qualifications are highlighted above, and the references below allow readers to inspect the underlying documents. The historic May and August pages are archived or withdrawn guidance; they should not be mistaken for current scheme rules.
People should not have to reconstruct the history of a compensation scheme to understand the expectations created in its name.
The figures are still there. The question now is whether the Government can show, person for person and pound for pound, how the original expectations became the scheme delivered.
And beyond compensation?
There is another question that no compensation table can settle: accountability.
On 10 August 2026, the National Police Chiefs’ Council confirmed that its review would extend to the entire Inquiry report. Police remained in a review phase, before deciding whether a criminal investigation should follow. They acknowledged legal and evidential challenges and further delay. That does not mean prosecutions have been ruled out; nor does it mean they are already on their way. [7]
When the compensation headlines fade, will the evidence ever reach a criminal court?
References: read the original documents
1. Government proposal, 21 May 2024 — archived proposal. See “Illustrative Tables”, “Infected Blood Support Scheme payments” and “Interim Compensation Payments”. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infected-blood-compensation-scheme-summary/infected-blood-compensation-scheme-summary
2. Northern Ireland Assembly: 2024 general election report — election announcement date and result. https://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/publications/2022-2027/2024/statistics_gis/2524.pdf
3. Living infected persons: later 2024 guidance and worked examples — historic guidance, updated 18 December 2024. See case studies 1–3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infected-blood-compensation-scheme-summary-august-2024/infected-blood-compensation-scheme-overview-living-infected-persons
4. Government update, 16 August 2024 — policy changes, particularly “Future of Infected Blood Support Schemes”. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-update-on-the-infected-blood-compensation-scheme-16-august-2024/government-update-on-the-infected-blood-compensation-scheme-16-august-2024
5. Full August 2024 scheme summary — withdrawn historical guidance providing the wider context. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infected-blood-compensation-scheme-summary-august-2024/infected-blood-compensation-scheme-summary-august-2024
6. First compensation offered, 12 December 2024 — official announcement of ten offers totalling over £13 million. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-compensation-offered-to-infected-blood-victims-after-decades-of-injustice
7. NPCC police review update, 10 August 2026 — scope of the extended review and distinction between review and criminal investigation. https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/infected-blood-inquiry-police-review-update-1
— The Unheard Voice