Annual General Meeting of the Cross-party Group on Haemophilia and Infected Blood

Date: 24.1.24

Time: 11:00-12:00

Attendees:

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS	Cai Evans
Rhys Hughes	Lee Stay
Lynne Kelly	Tom Jones
Michael Imperato	Norman
Alex Still	Marcus Lewis
Mark Isherwood	Lucy O’Brien
Andrew Betteridge	Nigel Miller
Jane Jones	Paul May
Sue	Anthony Lane
Shauna	Michael O’Connell
Jodie	Sybil Fowler
Brian Longford	Tony
Christine Fox	Sam Richards
Bev Tum	Evelyn
Debbie James

Minutes:

Rhun ap Iorwerth opens meeting

· Ensures translation services are working

· Thanks everyone for attending and reads out apologies

Annual General Meeting

· Rhun explains the process of the AGM

· Chair: Rhun ap Iorwerth puts his name forward to remain as chair

Ø John Griffiths (Proxy)

Ø Altaf Hussain (Proxy)

Ø Peredur Owen Griffiths (Proxy)

· Nobody opposes – Rhun ap Iorwerth remains as chair of the Cross-party Group

· Vice Chair: Hefin David puts his name forward to remain as Vice Chair

Ø John Griffiths (Proxy)

Ø Altaf Hussain (Proxy)

Ø Peredur Owen Griffiths (Proxy)

· Nobody opposes – Hefin David remains as Vice Chair of the Cross-party Group

· Secretariat: Lyne Kelly (Haemophilia Wales) puts her name forward to remain as secretariat

Ø John Griffiths (Proxy)

Ø Altaf Hussain (Proxy)

Ø Peredur Owen Griffiths (Proxy)

· Nobody opposes – Lynne Kelly remains as Secretariat of the Cross-party Group

Item 1 – Lynne Kelly gives update to group

· Final report has been delayed until the 20^th May

· Lynne provides brief history of the commission’s work and what was included in each interim report

· Discusses Diana Johnosn’s amendment to the Victims and Prisoners bill in December 2023 that places a duty on UK Government to establish a UK-wide, arms-length compensatory body

· Adds that it was read in house of lords on day of meeting, however section on the compensatory body not discussed until 5^th of February

· Lynne discusses Julie Morgan MS’s joint letter with the Scottish Government for a meeting with the Paymaster general

· Lynne expresses concern that compensatory body may only stretch to England and Wales

· Concerns are also raised at the lack of timetable and plan for establishing the arm’s length body

· Lynne ends by questioning why that work can’t begin now?

Item 2 – Michael Imperato provides legal update

· Expresses concerns that compensation will not be paid to whole of UK

· Need further clarification  from Sir Brian Langstaff on whether recommendation is explicit in recommending UK wide compensatory body

· Michael expresses his belief is that the first step is to set up a shadow body, and that there’s nothing stopping UK Government doing that today

· Acknowledges that the detailed work is still to be done, but UK Government appear to be dragging their feet on the basic elements

· The basic elements need to begin and at pace to give confidence to victims that justice will be brought forward

· Expresses concern that victims are dying while waiting for justice, which is why it’s so important to work at pace

· Some are approaching Welsh Government for compensation, but Welsh Government are clear that is outside of devolved competency

Item 3 – Open up for broader discussion

Jodie – Will we see work on this delayed until after General Election

· Rhun says we could speculate but that it’s unclear

· Michael suggests that current Government may want to spend lots of money before next general election, but agrees that it’s unclear

· Lynne points out that there’s been no firm commitment from official opposition that they would act would urgency on this case

· Lynne raises the fact that Penny Mordaunt MP was asked whether a drama, similar to that of the sub-postmasters, would be required to bring this issue on the mainstream political agenda

· Lynne explains that conversations are ongoing to see if it’s possible to bring this to a screen.

· It’s just about being able to do it in a way that encapsulates such a broad scandal

· There may also be some stigma surrounding those suffering with illnesses

· Rhun points out that storytelling is clearly hitting a nerve with general public

Norman – Concerned about UK Government dithering

· Sunak’s past voting record suggests he doesn’t care about the issue

· Ministers responsible for this have ben too reliant on briefs rather than learning the true gravity of the situation

· Ministers also unready to listen to victims

· The only reason this is still on the agenda is that the next generation of victims are continuing the fight

Anthony – The Welsh NHS isn’t taking official position

· Michael points out that Scottish Government lawyer has apologised for this, whilst Welsh Government lawyer have been more ambiguous in apologising on behalf of their Government

· Rhun makes stand-alone point that a change in Government may be am opportunity to force action at pace, but must get things in order to bring this case forward clearly and coherently

Bev – Discusses her experience of trying to get a drama made about this scandal

· Interest has picked up again following the ITV drama on sub-postmasters

· Did fall off after Covid

· S4C are considering it and willing to listen to victims

· Lynne points out problem of funding

· Rhun praises BBC Wales/S4C for their drama productions in recent times and believes this development sounds hopeful

Sue – Giving victims a platform

· LBC asked people to talk, but only for around a minute

· People are left shocked when they hear of experiences, but they don’t hear enough about it

· We need more coverage

· It too easily falls off the news agenda in favour of more topical issues

· Rhun – Sub-postmasters a clear example that the public do care when they understand the story in greater detail

· Rhun – Praises Lynne’s work in keeping this campaign going

Rhun – Closes the meeting

· Thanks everyone for attending and to Lynne and Michale for contributing

· Suggests to look for a new date soon for next meeting

· Explains he’ll be working with Lynne and Michael to get some traction once again to this issue

· And reiterates the importance of pushing as hard as we can