Thank you for your email received on the 23 April 2026, in which you made a request for access to certain information which may be held by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority.
As you may be aware, the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority (including the Infected Blood Compensation Authority), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.
You asked the following
I write under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information relating to the guidance and materials used by decision-makers assessing claims under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.
I would be grateful if you could provide:
Any internal guidance, manuals, or written instructions issued to caseworkers or decision-makers which are used in practice when assessing claims for:
Eligibility;
Causation; and
Quantum.
Any training materials provided to staff responsible for determining claims, including (where available):
Induction materials;
Ongoing training documents; and
Worked examples or case studies used for training purposes.
Any structured decision-making tools used by decision-makers, such as:
Assessment frameworks;
Decision trees;
Scoring systems; or
Matrices used to guide outcomes.
Any guidance describing the evidential requirements for claims, including what is considered sufficient medical or supporting evidence.
By way of context, similar material has previously been disclosed by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in response to FOI requests (for example, Decision Making Guidance documents), and I am seeking the equivalent material used within this scheme.
This request is intended to capture guidance and materials currently in use by operational staff, rather than documents relating to the formulation of policy.
If any of the requested information is exempt from disclosure, I would ask that you:
(a) specify the exemption(s) relied upon, and (b) provide any information that can reasonably be disclosed in redacted form.
If necessary, I would be content for the scope of this request to be refined in order to remain within the cost limits.
I would prefer to receive the information in electronic format.
You provided further clarification on the 8 May 2026:
By “Causation”, I refer to any internal guidance, criteria, or assessment framework used by decision-makers to determine whether an applicant’s infected blood infection or related condition is considered attributable to treatment, blood products, transfusions, or other qualifying circumstances under the Scheme.
By “Quantum”, I refer to any internal guidance, frameworks, matrices, tariffs, methodologies, or assessment criteria used when determining the level or category of compensation payable to an applicant.
For the avoidance of doubt, my request is intended to capture operational guidance and materials used by decision-makers or caseworkers in practice when assessing claims.
Our response
We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and we provide a response for your attention.
Section 22(1) FOIA: Information intended for future publication
We have established that the information you requested regarding guidance and materials used by decision-makers is held by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority. The information you have requested is being withheld as it is exempt under section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (“the Act”).
Section 22(1) protects information intended for future publication. Section 22(1) is a qualified exemption and we have considered whether the balance of the public interest favours maintaining the exemption in section 22(1) or disclosing the information. We recognise the public interest in demonstrating transparency by releasing information to the public. We also appreciate that this increases public trust and that the public benefits from being kept informed about matters affecting them. However, there is a public interest in cost effectiveness in how public authorities publish information.
Section 22(1) acknowledges that public authorities must have freedom to be able to determine their own publication timetables. This allows them to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publication. It is a part of the effective conduct of public affairs that the general publication of information is a conveniently planned and managed activity within the reasonable control of public authorities.
As there is a commitment to publish, we are reasonably entitled to make our own arrangements to do so. After weighing up the competing public interest considerations, we consider it is reasonable, in all the circumstances, that the information held should be withheld from disclosure until the future date of publication (section 22(1)(c)) and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure at this time.