Public Accounts Committee
14 Sep 2026 · Commons Chamber · 14 speeches · Official record
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First, can I say how much I enjoy serving on the Public Accounts Committee with the hon. Lady? I think-and I am sure she agrees with me-that the key to correcting this situation is for the Government to make better decisions. It seems that a pattern of bad decision making has resulted in the necessity of these claims, which do take too long to be heard, and I fully support the Committee’s report, which suggests that we need an independent body to ensure that the Government are not seen to be mar... Full speech
I thank colleagues on the Public Accounts Committee and at the National Audit Office for their work on this report. Groups representing victims expressed concern to our Committee that the Government do not do enough to advertise and promote schemes, leading to some victims missing out, and the amount and type of evidence required of victims when they submit a claim can make the process difficult and retraumatising. Does my hon. Friend agree that more care needs to be taken when designing schemes... Full speech
I agree with my hon. Friend-another colleague on the Public Accounts Committee. The report is very clear that much more needs to be done to try to reach victims; there is a concern that the LGBT veterans scheme is closing while victims remain. It is important that institutions use the data they already hold to reach people directly, and that the evidential burden is as low as possible while still maintaining protections against fraud. Full speech
I am pleased to be giving this statement on behalf of the Public Accounts Committee, of which I am a member. Before I turn to the findings of our report on Government compensation schemes, I want to begin by recognising the individuals and families whose lives have been profoundly affected by the events that gave rise to these compensation schemes. Behind every application, every claim and every payment is a person who has experienced loss, injustice or harm, often through no fault of their own.... Full speech
We now come to the Select Committee statement on behalf of the Public Accounts Committee. The hon. Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of her statement, I will call Members to put questions on the subject of the statement. These should be brief questions, not speeches. I emphasise that questions should be directed to the Select Committee member, not the Minister. Front Benchers may take part in questioning... Full speech
As an officer of the all-party parliamentary group on patient safety, I am very well aware that the Hughes report is still in the Government inbox, awaiting a response. I also have constituents who are victims of the pelvic mesh scandal, which obviously particularly impacted women, and I hope that we will soon hear the Government’s response to that report. Hopefully, they will be able to bring forward more swiftly a Government compensation scheme that works, co-designed with the victims, as our ... Full speech
I thank my hon. Friend for her statement and for the work of the Public Accounts Committee on this important issue. I have seen at first hand how unbelievably difficult it has been for my constituents who were victims of the Windrush scandal to get compensation from that scheme. The Windrush compensation scheme was not co-designed with victims, and it forced victims to apply to the very Department that had done them wrong through processes that were unwieldy and Kafkaesque in their bureaucracy. ... Full speech
I commend my hon. Friend for all her years of work on the Public Accounts Committee and for her leadership and foresight in making sure that the work was done by the National Audit Office. We did hear some examples. In particular, the infected blood compensation scheme is not run by the Department of Health and Social Care, but has a degree of independence from being run out of the Cabinet Office, and that makes a difference. There were some examples where there had been some co-design with vict... Full speech
I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I guess I return the compliment-although I am not sure I always enjoy his contributions to the Public Accounts Committee! However, I certainly recognise that on this and other issues, it is also important to get behind the reasons why these scandals happened in the first place. That obviously was not the purpose of our Committee’s inquiry-it was to look at compensation schemes-but valuable lessons must also be learned about why these scandals occur, whether in rel... Full speech
I thank the hon. Lady for her statement. Is she able to outline whether, during the course of its work, the Committee gave any consideration to index-linking compensation payments in line with inflation? Those payments can take a very long time to be made, and over that time, the value of the award can have reduced. Was that something that the Committee looked at, or would consider? Full speech
I thank my hon. Friend for being such a champion for those in her constituency who suffered from the decisions that impacted on the Windrush generation. She is absolutely right. We heard significant evidence, not least from the Windrush commissioner, about the poor treatment and the difficulties people were having in seeking redress, in particular the complexity and, as she points out, the lack of legal support. The report recommends that, where possible, it should be clear from the start whethe... Full speech
No, that was not something that the Committee specifically looked at, but I totally agree that many victims wait far too long. The length of time it often took to set up compensation schemes, and their complexity-often resulting in cases taking a long time to reach a decision and therefore compensation taking a long time to be awarded-were things that repeatedly came up in the Committee. We urge the Government to make sure that is much more timely in future. Full speech
I thank my hon. Friend for this report on redress schemes, which certainly reflects the experiences of my constituents who have been involved in some of those campaigns. I particularly welcome the idea of having an independent body looking at schemes-I think here of the Hughes report and those affected by sodium valproate, mesh and Primodos, who are still waiting for a decision. This is life-changing stuff for constituents. Has the Committee thought about how, in those kinds of situations, we mi... Full speech
I am pleased to see this report. Back in January 2024, I asked the Comptroller and Auditor General if the NAO would examine compensation schemes. I looked at a number of them during my more than a decade on the Public Accounts Committee, and different Departments would set them up and they would have different foundations. My hon. Friend will obviously be waiting for the Government’s response to this report in the relevant set of Treasury minutes. When the Committee was doing its thorough work l... Full speech