Speeches by McKinnell.

“Sorry—are you suggesting that the information is there in the public domain and they just haven’t found it?”

“I want to start by thanking you for being here. The power of your testimony is quite tangible, in terms of the voices that you bring from the people you represent. We can feel the strength with which you present those concerns. Newcastle is the home of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority. I have been to visit the…”

“I think you suggested, Reverend Clive, that claimants would need, or would benefit from, legal representation to navigate the system. It feels to me like the challenge that you are both putting is that these schemes are so complicated that anyone applying to them needs legal representation. What would you say to the su…”

“I want to put to you some of the assertions and examples that Kate Burt raised, and particularly some of the bandings. I appreciate you have said that those were based around a sort of clinical negligence-style awards process, whereas, from her perspective, she does not see, or it has not been explained, how these band…”

“In summary, given that it is very complex and you have obviously put in a huge amount of work, effort and time into this, do you think there is a risk that the approach taken has been too legalistic and has not done enough to engage those affected by this as part of that process?”

“So the answer to the first question—“How can the Government best design and plan compensation schemes?”—is to have an independent authority, and then the detail of how much—”

“Do you have anything to add, Sir Alan?”

“I’m sorry, I guess what I am asking is: does it lack transparency? In a court case, when you are against the other party and you do not have full disclosure, you have to try to battle it out. It is almost set up as a battle between the victims and the compensating authority. From the evidence we took from the previous …”

“What does that mean, “If you had already had in place a redress authority”?”

“Yes, what I am saying is that, although I appreciate this is a legal matter, it is actually a Government compensation scheme, but it is being approached like a court case for each individual. Is that perhaps the challenge we have here?”

“Can I take you back? What I picked up there, and what came across very clearly in the evidence from the previous panel, particularly from Kate Burt of the Haemophilia Society, was that had the community been engaged at an earlier stage, it would have been a better scheme. You seem to be acknowledging that as well. Coul…”

“Thank you for being here. I appreciate that in a perfect world, none of these schemes would be required, but given that they are, based on your experience, what would be your advice for how we best design and plan a compensation scheme that meets the requirements that apply not only to the four schemes we are looking a…”

“That is an incredibly broad set of aims that you are working to. What criteria will you use when you are deciding when or where to issue grants, loans and other financial support to projects?”

“Can I slightly go back to the previous question, but in the context of what you are saying there? How do you know whether you are maximising the impact of this without clear targets? It is very hard to measure. Obviously you are saying that lots of good work is going on, with lots of people working hard and lots of sho…”

“What interventions do you feel have worked best so far in unlocking land? I suspect that this is for either Joanna or Alison.”

“Just a bit more detail on how they are measured.”

“Could I just ask you to avoid acronyms? I think we had CPO as well, and people watching may not know what these things are.”

“Do you mind just explaining those two a little bit more?”

“No, that’s fine.”

“It’s okay.”