£55m fund for vCJD victims

There have been 101 deaths from vCJD to date

A £55m trust fund for victims of the brain disease vCJD is to be set up.

The money will be used to settle compensation claims from victims of the human form of "mad cow disease" and their families.

In addition, each of the victims or their families will get an extra one-off payment of £50,000 in recognition of the "exceptional circumstances" involved, the government announced on Saturday.

News of the fund came as victims' families hold their annual general meeting in Carlisle, and was welcomed by their solicitors.

Dave Churchill, whose 19-year-old son Stephen was the first vCJD victim, said it was a "very very significant day in the history of this dreadful disease".

I hope that these payments go some way towards recognising the pain and trauma experienced by victims and their families

Alan Milburn,
Health Secretary

The government promised it would compensate victims after the long-running inquiry into the BSE crisis.

An interim trust fund was set up in April, and the Department of Health says interim payments of £25,000 have already been made to most families.

There have been 101 deaths from the disease in the UK to date.

The compensation scheme will provide for payments to be made to a maximum of 250 victims or their families.

'Tragedy'

The one-off £50,000 payments will also only be made to the first 250 cases.

For our family compensation in terms of value was never an issue - what was more important was a recognition of the issue

Dave Churchill,
victim's father

If cases exceed these figures the fund will be updated, although the DoH said if there were "much larger numbers", future payments would have to be reviewed.

Health Secretary Alan Milburn said: "I am pleased we have reached agreement on the terms of the vCJD compensation package.

"I hope that these payments go some way towards recognising the pain and trauma experienced by victims and their families.

"Variant CJD is a national and personal tragedy for those affected. It is right that the families receive this compensation."

'On the breadline'

The DoH said that trustees would be appointed shortly, in consultation with the families, to administer the fund and ensure a "fair and even handed assessment" of the compensation claims.

The announcement of the trust fund follows a £1m package set up last year to help provide care for vCJD victims.

Dave Churchill: "Unique disease"

Mr Churchill, from Devizes in Wiltshire, said the new fund was "a unique achievement in terms of compensation", although he stressed that it had not come quickly enough as families had been waiting for years.

"We haven't had to go to litigation to achieve this, but this disease is unique.

"At a personal level for our family compensation in terms of value was never an issue. What was more important was a recognition of the issue.

"This money will be of a tremendous help to many families. There are families who are literally on the breadline because of this disease."

David Body, a partner at Irwin Mitchell solicitors who represent the victims and their families, said that each family would receive at least £120,000, which would hopefully be paid before Christmas.

He said they had been working with the DoH to construct a scheme which would give proper compensation for "the terrible experience of the vCJD victim, the experience of the victim's family, economic losses and loss of dependency".

"It means those who have spent years nursing loved ones, who gave up their jobs to nurse their sons, daughters, husbands and wives, and who spent their savings caring for them will be compensated for their loss."