To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has considered extending his compensation scheme for sufferers of bleeding disorders who received contaminated blood announced in January 2011, to those infected at various levels of illness, but not classed as severely ill.

Currently, there are no plans to extend the schemes of ex gratia financial support for those infected through treatment with blood or blood products supplied by the national health service. However, the Department has committed to keep under review new published studies on the natural history of hepatitis C infection in order that decisions about levels of financial support continue to be informed by evidence. The expert Advisory Group on Hepatitis will assess new evidence and publish its advice.