The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that the Government are taking this issue very seriously, and we completely understand that speed is of the essence. It is now only a matter of days before the report will be published; we have always said that we want to publish our response very quickly after that and I assure the hon. Gentleman that we will not hang around.

I respectfully reject that characterisation. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Government have spent £400 million of taxpayers’ money since October 2022. The arrangements for the distribution of further compensation payments are obviously being considered at this point, and, as I said during the extensive exchange that opened this questions session, that work is continuing apace, so that I can produce a comprehensive response from the Government as soon as possible.

No, I cannot guarantee that, because I do not yet have collective agreement, but I am working towards that ambition and that is what I want to achieve.

On 20 February 2022 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) published a product recall information notice (PRIN) for two infant formula products Elecare Similac and Alimentum Similac, due to concerns of possible contamination with Salmonella Newport. These products are produced in the United States of America and imported into the United Kingdom. The PRIN was updated on 22 February to include possible contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii.

The FSA has published and disseminated advice to parents that anyone who has purchased or been prescribed any of the products included in the recall should not feed it to their baby and should return it to the place it was purchased or obtained. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has also shared information on the recall and asked healthcare professionals to contact all patients who have been dispensed the impacted batches immediately.

On 4 March 2022, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued a National Patient Safety Alert to notify clinicians and ensure any affected products are safely disposed of in pharmacies and other settings, and that patients who have been prescribed these products are contacted. The UKHSA’s regional health protection teams and local authorities have been advised of the incident through the standard communication channels and active case finding is ongoing. The UKHSA is working with the Department, the FSA, NHS England, local authorities and the devolved administrations to ensure system-wide communications on the product recall.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is coordinating a multi-agency response regarding the recall of contaminated infant formula. The UKHSA is engaging with the Department, the Food Standards Agency, NHS England, local authorities and the devolved administrations.

The Department estimates that it would pay out £570 million over the next 45 years, based on the existing unreformed scheme. The Department currently anticipates that it will disburse the same sum under a reformed scheme plus the additional £125 million over the current spending review period of five years. We are currently consulting on the reformed scheme and are unable to estimate the future average annual spend beyond the current spending review or the categories of spend for the period. For the current spending review period the planned expenditure is £47.5 million for each of the next five years.

The Department only holds finance data for payments under the Schemes back to 2007. This information is provided below.

2014-15 £22,278,096

2013-14 £27,043,569

2012-13 £22,052,458

2011-12 £27,192,232

2010-11 £39,805,667

2009-10 £22,461,057

2008-09 £19,240,337

2007-08 £20,532,461

The figures above include the annual payments to those with HIV and hepatitis C stage 2, and the lump sum payments made on joining the scheme and progressing to hepatitis C stage 2. The fluctuation in amounts between the years reflects the variance in number of people newly coming forward or progressing to hepatitis C stage 2 in each year.

The payments to individuals included both discretionary and non-discretionary payments, data on which is only held by the trusts and funds. Therefore, the Department is unable to estimate the levels of individual payments.

The assumption is that there would be £570 million available from the unreformed scheme, as mentioned in the consultation, and an additional £125 million, identified in the current spending review.

The impact assessment we have prepared is an analysis of the proposals and not the final outcome. We will publish the final full impact assessment when we announce the outcomes of the consultation.

On page 32 – 34 of the consultation document itself the Department gives some indication of the impact of the proposed changes on individuals.

All respondents to the consultation have been encouraged to say how the proposals will affect them in order that full consideration can be given to this and other issues before any final decisions are made on the reformed scheme.