Chris Seeks Assessment For Inflationary Increase For Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
Christopher Chope Conservative, Christchurch
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the level of the payment made to successful claimants under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 in line with Consumer Price Inflation; and whether it is his policy to allow the value of a payment under that Act to be reduced by inflation.
Maria Caulfield The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The payment amount of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is routinely considered alongside wider vaccine policy, which has seen it increase from £10,000 in 1979 to the current level of £120,000. The VDPS is a one-off additional payment rather than a compensation scheme and does not preclude an individual’s right to pursue legal recourse for damages. Increasing the VDPS payment amount using an inflationary mechanism is therefore not directly related as the payment is not intended or designed to cover lifetime costs associated with severe disability, such as costs of care or living.
Other Government support remains open to claimants with a disability or long-term health condition, including Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Attendance Allowance, and Personal Independence Payments.
- ENDS - #167997
