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Through the Scottish infected blood support scheme, we have made payments of £100,000 since October 2022. My understanding is that there are 22—

We know that there are 22 estates. Sam, do you know the exact numbers?

The interim recommendations involved a UK-wide compensation scheme, which would be administered by the UK Government. Payments for that element would therefore come from the UK Government.

I understand stakeholders concerns about that. I do not know the make-up of the external expert group, either. In one of the four-nations meetings, I asked for consideration to be given to having at least one Scottish member of the group. I do not know whether that has happened. I have some sympathy with the anonymity of the group being maintained. However, John Glen, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, is coming to Scotland next week and will meet the stakeholders. I hope that that will give them an opportunity to discuss the issue with him.

I am pleased that over the past year we have had—I think—four intergovernmental meetings on the matter. In addition, in the past few months, my officials have been meeting weekly, and sometimes twice weekly. We have a number of avenues through which to raise any points that we wish to raise with the UK Government. I also intend to join the stakeholders in meeting Mr Glen next week.

I thank Paul Sweeney for that offer. As the committee knows, we will have a debate on the LCM on the bill this afternoon and it is my intention, after having listened to contributions, to write to the UK Government outlining what is said in the chamber. I see no reason why the committee’s views should not also be shared, whether separately by you or as part of my letter. It would probably be better if you did it separately. I have no concerns about that.

As I said in response to Ruth Maguire’s question, the important thing is that we think about those who were infected and have been affected, and that we put those people at the centre of our decision making. I am sure that you will do that.

Thank you for the opportunity to give evidence on the legislative consent memorandum, especially as you have, I know, had to arrange this meeting at short notice. I am afraid that that is because, as the convener pointed out, the United Kingdom Government was able to table its amendments on infected blood compensation only at a very late stage at Westminster.

What happened to infected blood victims was a terrible tragedy, and the Scottish Government has apologised. The Scottish Government confirmed in its closing submissions to the Infected Blood Inquiry that it recognises the strong case for provision of compensation to all those who were infected with hepatitis and/or HIV as a result of infected national health service blood or blood products, and to their bereaved relatives. Given that context, I am supportive of the policy intent.

The amendments are the first step towards implementation, in full or in part, of the inquiry’s recommendations, as set out in its “Second Interim Report”. The inquiry recommended that compensation should be provided by one UK-wide scheme in order to ensure consistency of approach, regardless of where in the UK an applicant lives or where they were infected. The UK Government amendments do so by setting up a new arm’s-length body to be called the infected blood compensation authority, which will deliver the infected blood compensation scheme.

The amendments will ensure that people in Scotland will have access to the scheme on the same basis as those elsewhere in the UK. Much of the detail, including eligibility and payment levels, will need to be set out in regulations. I know that that has caused some concern; however, John Glen MP, who is UK Minister for the Cabinet Office, wrote to me on the day on which the amendments were tabled and I have replied to stress that the details of the compensation scheme should be set out as quickly as possible.

The inquiry’s “Second Interim Report” also recommended that further interim compensation payments of £100,000 should be made to certain relatives of infected people, following the £100,000 interim payments that were made to infected people or their bereaved partners in October 2022. In response, the amendments also provide for payments to the estates of infected people who have sadly died. That is being done as a pragmatic method of ensuring that family members of the deceased get some compensation reasonably quickly. In my letter to the Minister for the Cabinet Office, I stressed that those payments should be made as quickly as possible.

The UK Government’s last-minute tabling of amendments has left us in a difficult position, with practically no opportunity to negotiate changes. However, given that the amendments represent a concrete step towards both providing compensation to the victims of that terrible tragedy and ensuring that relatives, who have received nothing or very little so far, receive interim compensation, I recommend that the Scottish Parliament consents.

Through continued engagement with the UK Government, I will seek to ensure that the needs of the victims are put first and that the scheme works for all those victims in Scotland.???

I agree. Some of the stories that I have also heard are harrowing; they are not the kind of stories that we want to hear about Scotland. In his evidence, Nicky Coia reflected on one story from a nurse in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. It is important that we ensure that everybody who works in health and social care gets the right support to understand how things have changed in the way in which HIV is treated. It is fair to say that there is a lack of up-to-date knowledge; the committee heard evidence to support that.

That is why the work of Dr Daniela Brawley and NHS Grampian on e-learning is so important. If it is successful, I hope that it will be rolled out in the same way as other education that is provided on the Turas learning system. In his evidence, Nicky Coia talked clearly about what Glasgow had done 10 years ago and recognised that there might be a need to build on that.

Education is one of the important aspects of our plan. It is especially important to remember that stigma is a dreadful thing. I attended a round-table meeting hosted by Paul O’Kane—it was one of the first that I attended in my role—because it was important for me to hear from people who are living with HIV about the impact that it has on their lives. It is about those awareness campaigns, and about how we, as elected members of the Parliament, can support that awareness.

I pay tribute to the Terence Higgins Trust for the fantastic collaborative work that it did to produce the campaign advert video that was shared on media from October last year. We are currently analysing that campaign to get its outcomes. It is really important to raise awareness and try to reduce stigma.

I pass that on to Rebekah Carton.

We will get the information from that work when we evaluate the outcomes of those opt-out pilots.