18 October 2018

Government statement on financial support, panel members and retention of records

Written Ministerial Statement addresses financial support, confirms decision not to appoint panel members and apologises for an administrative error that delayed a government-wide instruction about records.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office, David Lidington CBE MP, has today laid a written ministerial statement in the House of Commons regarding the work of the Inquiry following a letter from the Chair of the Inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff, earlier this week.

Sir Brian had called for decisive action to be taken on the issue of financial support for people infected and affected. The Government will consider those comments and Sir Brian’s recommendations carefully and will respond as soon as possible.

David Lidington will also not be appointing co-determining panel members because the Inquiry is appointing expert groups to provide open and transparent expertise.

The Inquiry has also received an apology from the Cabinet Office over a delay in emailing other government departments regarding document retention. The apology letter is on our website and includes confirmation that no records relevant to the Inquiry were destroyed by government departments during the interim period.

Written Ministerial Statement

Letter from David Lidington MP to Sir Brian Langstaff

Letter from Cabinet Office to the Inquiry