Forty Eighth Meeting – 2 October 2009

  • The Minutes and Resolutions of the previous meeting were approved.
  • It was reported that there were 169 victims of vCJD as at 7 September 2009, according to the figures on the National CJD Surveillance Unit website. However Charles Russell was aware of 175 victims. Main Applications had been received in relation to 173 claims.  By the end of this meeting, the Trustees had considered 171 of the claims submitted to date.  The Trustees had considered a total of 366 claims for £5,000 Psychiatric Injury, 201 claims for Particular Emotional Hardship and 40 claims for Particular Financial Hardship.
  • The meeting included consideration of one new claim, two claims Psychiatric Injury and three resubmitted claims for Particular Emotional Hardship .
  • 48m had been paid in compensation by the date of the meeting. £11.68m had been paid for costs, expenses and taxes, which included £5.04 million in relation to Charles Russell’s fees (inc VAT), £3.45 million in relation to Irwin Mitchell’s fees (inc VAT) and £238,000 in relation to other solicitors fees and expenses (inc VAT).
  • The Trustees discussed the progress in relation to the search for Dave Churchill’s replacement and confirmed that three applicants had applied for the position.
  • Progress of the Trustees’ proposals to the Department of Health to revise the Scheme was discussed. It was reported that some responses had been received from interested parties following the consultation period, all of which had been positive about the proposed revisions.
  • Urgent claims for expenses were considered on behalf of one family.
  • It was reported that the accounts for the year ending April 2009 had been audited and approved.