Sixtieth Meeting – 17 October 2014

  • The Minutes and Resolutions of the previous meeting were approved.
  • It was reported that there were 177 victims as at 18 September 2014, according to the figures on the National CJD Surveillance Unit website. However, Fieldfisher were aware of 183 victims. By the end of this meeting, the Trustees had considered 181 of the claims submitted to date. The Trustees had considered a total of 406 claims for £5,000 Psychiatric Injury, 216 claims for Particular Emotional Hardship and 45 claims for Particular Financial Hardship.
  • The meeting included consideration of 1 main application, 1 Psychiatric claim, and 1 real/personal property claim.
  • £41,148,845.39 had been paid in compensation by the date of the meeting, £14,692,183.81 had been paid for costs, expenses and taxes, which included £5,439,199.34 in relation to Charles Russell’s fees (inc VAT), £578,515.13 in relation to Fieldfisher’s fees (inc VAT), £3,574,020.82 to Irwin Mitchell’s fees (inc VAT) and £272,369.44 in relation to other solicitors’ fees and expenses.
  • The Trustees resolved to increase the Basic Sum by 2% for victims diagnosed after 31 March 2014, from £124,848 to £127,345.
  • Also in attendance at the meeting was Dr Mark Noterman from the Department of Health, who provided an update with regards to the research being undertaken regarding vCJD and the potential risks of secondary transmission.
  •  The Trustees resolved to think about the long term validity of the Trust and the possibility of simplifying the Scheme in a bid to keep costs to a minimum.