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Sam Galbraith, Minister of State in the Scottish Office, wrote to Michael Martin MP referring to those infected with Hepatitis C as "sufferers, whose conditions have resulted from inadvertent harm".

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A draft reply from Susan Deacon to an MP asserted that "the risks of not receiving the transfusion were apparently deemed to outweigh the risk of any infection being transmitted" and the "resultant transmission of Hepatitis C was a tragic but inadvertent consequence of this balance of risks."

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Minutes from a meeting held on 30 May 2000 between Susan Deacon and ministers recorded the decisions made at the meeting. Susan Deacon was keen to "move on" with publication of the report on the Heat Treatment of Blood Products.

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A letter prepared on behalf of Susan Deacon to accompany the publication of the report on Heat Treatment of Blood Products repeated expressions of sympathy to those infected through blood products.

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Dr (later Professor) Aileen Keel was a senior medical officer in the SHHD during this time.

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In her written statement Professor Aileen Keel stated she had been against financial compensation for those infected with Hepatitis C describing it as a "dangerous precedent."

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In her written statement Professor Aileen Keel stated that she "regretted" the judgment of Mr Justice Burton had "forced" a move away from the principle of no negligence, no compensation.

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A draft memo from Ian Sneddon to the Minister of State stated that the main argument against compensation for those infected with Hepatitis C through blood transfusion/blood products was that the treatment offered was the best available in the light of medical knowledge at the time.

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The Department of Health and Social Security in London was aware by this date of the strong possibility that "some sort of virus" (the AIDS virus) was transmitted by blood products.

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The Department of Health sought the views of the Scottish Office on the issue of compensation payments for those infected with Hepatitis C.

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Ian Snedden of the Scottish Office advised the Department of Health that whilst the 'no compensation' position was becoming increasingly untenable the proposed compensation scheme for those infected with Hepatitis C would give rise to a number of complex legal and medical questions.

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The Department of Health prepared proposals for a scheme to compensate those infected with Hepatitis C through blood or blood products but "without any presumption that such a scheme would be desirable or inevitable." Scottish Ministers were asked to agree to respond in terms of a draft letter which identified the difficulties in the proposed scheme and recommended "that pressure to establish a no-fault compensation scheme should continue to be resisted."

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A Department of Health memo raised concerns as to where the funding would come from to meet the proposed scheme compensating those infected with Hepatitis C.

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A Scottish Office memo raised concerns about the cost of a scheme to compensate those infected with Hepatitis C if one was to be introduced.

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The Scottish Office concluded that claims for compensation for those infected with Hepatitis C "should be resisted, at least until the outcome of the Court cases is known and a more precise estimate can be made of the likely numbers and costs involved."

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The Minister of State at the Scottish Office, James Douglas-Hamilton, commented that it "is likely that the view of the layman, and of the electorate as a whole, would probably be that those infected should receive compensation. Those infected had become so through no fault of their own, while being treated by the NHS, and those infected with HIV have already been compensated."

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The CMO of Scotland, Dr Robert Kendall, referred to a statement by the Secretary of State for Health, Stephen Dorrell, which "very strongly" suggested that the Department of Health would resist offering compensation and informed the Minister that in those circumstances it would be extremely difficult for Scotland to attempt to adopt a different policy.

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The Minister of State at the Scottish Office considered a compensation payment of £20,000 to those infected with Hepatitis C, though this was considered to be too low by Scottish Office officials.

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The Minister of State noted the advice from officials regarding compensation and asked for the letter to the Department of Health to be amended to acknowledge "the fact that this is a matter for the collective view of the Government."

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Ian Snedden (Scottish Office) wrote to Kevin McGuiness (Department of Health) to express the Minister's sympathy with the campaign for some form of no fault compensation for those infected with Hepatitis C but expressed concern about the costs and the impact on other health spending. The letter also stated that the general principle of any compensation scheme for Hepatitis C "is a matter for collective consideration by the Government."

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