Cabinet Office written question – answered am ar 6 Mawrth 2024.
Paul Girvan
Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Education), Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Transport), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Transport)
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the number of people that would be eligible for compensation under the terms of the recommendations of the second interim report of Infected Blood Inquiry, published on 5 April 2023, in South Antrim Constituency.
Paul Girvan
Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Education), Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Transport), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Transport)
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to (a) identify and (b) contact people in South Antrim Constituency who were (i) infected and (ii) affected by the contaminated blood scandal as part of Government preparations for responding to Infected Blood Inquiry recommendations on compensation.
Paul Girvan
Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Education), Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Transport), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Transport)
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in South Antrim Constituency have received interim compensation payments as a result of (a) their infection and (b) their family member’s infection resulting from contaminated blood or blood products.
John Glen
The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Statistical Expert Group, established by the Infected Blood Inquiry, has provided valuable insight into the numbers of infections from blood and blood products in the UK between 1970 and 1991 and subsequent survival rates. Since October 2022, the Government has paid over £400 million in interim compensation payments to those infected or bereaved partners registered with the UK Infected Blood Support Schemes, totalling over 4000 individuals. However, the requested information is not available by Parliamentary Constituency. There is also considerable uncertainty over the number of people, especially those affected, who might be eligible under Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations. Therefore I am not able to provide a substantive response to the Honourable member’s questions on his constituency.
Yes1 person thinks so
No4 people think not
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The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
