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Infected blood scandal victims are in line for up to ￡2.7million each as ministers vowed to make payments as fast as possible.

Announcing a 'comprehensive' framework after the damning inquiry report, Paymaster General John Glen said 'time is of the essence' for many of those suffering the consequences of the worst ever NHS disaster.?

Illustrative figures issued by the government showed the worst hit, who contracted HIV and Hepatitis C, could get between ￡2.3million and ￡2.7million. Bereaved relatives can expect lump sums and annual incomes, depending on their circumstances.?

The minister also outlined more interim payments, with around 4,000 people already having been handed ￡100,000 as a stop-gap measure. Those living with infections will get another ￡210,000 in the next 90 days, he said.?

Detailed decisions will be put in the hands of an independent authority headed by Sir Robert Francis, and final payments should start being made by the end of the year, Mr Glen told the Commons.

The cost to the taxpayer is expected to top ￡10billion, although Mr Glen made clear there was 'no restriction' on the amount. 'If we need to pay we will pay,' he said.?

The system for establishing entitlements is being split into five categories -?injury, social impact, autonomy, care and financial loss.?

Both those 'infected' and those 'affected', such as relatives, will be entitled to cash - with sums exempt from tax.

Paymaster general John Glen announced a framework for payouts after Rishi Sunak vowed the government will find 'whatever it costs'

Illustrative figures issued by the government showed the worst hit, who contracted HIV and Hepatitis C, could get between ￡2.3million and ￡2.7million

Bereaved relatives can expect lump sums and annual incomes, depending on their circumstances

Families of the victims of the scandals outside Central Hall in Westminster, London, after the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry report yesterday

Giving details of the proposals, Mr Glen said: 'Those who have been infected or affected as a result of this scandal will receive compensation.

'To be crystal clear, if you have been directly or indirectly infected by NHS blood, blood products or tissue contaminated with HIV or hepatitis C, or have developed a chronic infection from blood contaminated with hepatitis B, you will be eligible to claim compensation under the scheme.

'And where an infected person has died, but would have been eligible under these criteria, compensation will be paid to their estate.

'And this will include where a person was infected with hepatitis B and died during the acute period of infection.'

The scheme will be treated as capital spending and funding from borrowing, with government sources playing down concerns it will derail Jeremy Hunt's hopes of cutting taxes before the election.?

Mr Glen said: 'Over the next few weeks Sir Robert Francis will seek views from the infected blood community on the proposed scheme before its terms are set in regulations, to make sure that the scheme will best serve those that it's intended for.'

Mr Glen said the inquiry recommended the scheme should be flexible in its awards of compensation, providing both for a lump sum or regular payments, adding: 'We agree and that is why the awards to living infected or affected persons will be offered as a lump sum or periodical payments.

'Where the infected person has died, estate representatives will receive compensation as a single lump sum to then distribute to beneficiaries of the estate as is appropriate.

'We'll also guarantee that any payments made to those eligible will be exempt from income, capital gains and inheritance tax, as well as disregard from means-tested benefit assessments.

'We'll also ensure that all claimants are able to appeal their award, both through an internal review process in the Infected Blood Compensation Authority and, where needed, the right to appeal to a first-tier tribunal.

'Our expectation is that final payments will start before the end of the year.'

Laying out the interim measures, Mr Glen said he wanted to reassure people who worried 'they may not live to receive compensation'.

'Today I'm announcing the Government will be making further interim payments ahead of the establishment of the full scheme,' he said.

'Payments of ￡210,000 will be made to living infected beneficiaries, those registered with existing infected blood support schemes, as well as those who register with the support scheme before the final scheme becomes operational, and the estates of those who pass away between now and payments being made.

'I know that time is of the essence, which is why I'm also pleased to say that they will be delivered within 90 days, starting in the summer, so that they can reach those who need it so urgently most.'

Asked about the costs, Mr Glen said: 'As the Prime Minister made clear yesterday, there is no restriction on the budget. Where we need to pay, we will pay.'?

Pressed again for an estimate, Mr Glen replied:? 'I can't tell her what that number is because we haven't yet finalised the severity bandings and verified the work of the tariffs, that's the meaningful engagement that we are having with the communities, supervised by Sir Robert Francis.'

Labour's Sir Chris Bryant was among MPs calling for 'a legally enforceable duty of candour', telling the Commons: 'This will all happen again, unless we change the way we do our parliamentary politics, 'cause Parliament failed as well as the whole of British politics.'

Mr Glen replied that the Government will 'need to respond powerfully' to the recommendations, adding: 'We will do so in due course.'

In a sombre statement to the Commons last night, the Prime Minister issued a 'wholehearted and unequivocal' apology.

Sir Brian Langstaff's report had uncovered 'a decades-long moral failure at the heart of our national life' that should 'shake our nation to its core', he said.

'From the National Health Service ?to the civil service, to ministers in successive governments at every level, the people and institutions in which we place our trust failed in the most harrowing and devastating way,' he added.

'They failed the victims and their families ? and they failed this country.'

Mr Sunak was criticised by Sir Brian yesterday for responding to calls for compensation at a 'sluggish pace' and with a lack of transparency.

The Prime Minister last night acknowledged the case for redress and said the Government would pay 'comprehensive compensation' to the victims and their families, adding: 'Whatever it costs to deliver this scheme, we will pay it.'

He told MPs it was 'almost impossible to comprehend' how it felt for victims to learn they had been infected with life-changing viruses such as HIV and hepatitis C as a result of treatment on the health service. He said the report had 'highlighted an appalling truth that our NHS failed'.

Mr Sunak accepted evidence of a deliberate cover-up, with the inquiry finding official documents had been destroyed and campaigners deliberately frustrated as they tried to get to the truth.

He said it was a matter of 'eternal shame' that the inquiry found some people, including children, had effectively been viewed as 'objects for research'.

His apology was not just for the medical failures relating to the use of infected blood products and the failure to respond to emerging evidence of risk.

The victims also deserved an apology for the 'repeated failure of the state and our medical professionals to recognise the harm caused', including the 'failure of previous payments schemes', Mr Sunak said.

He apologised for the 'institutional refusal to face up to these failings ? and worse, to deny and even attempt to cover them up'.

He said victims had endured 'layer upon layer of hurt' over decades, adding: 'This is an apology from the state ? to every single person impacted by this scandal. It did not have to be this way. It should never have been this way.

'And on behalf of this and every government stretching back to the 1970s, I am truly sorry.'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also issued an apology, saying failures applied 'to all parties, including my own'.

He welcomed the Prime Minister's confirmation of financial support for victims, saying Labour would 'work with him to get that done swiftly'.

But former health secretary Sir Sajid Javid warned that NHS scandals continued to take place despite numerous pledges to 'learn lessons'.

He accused officials of 'putting the reputation of themselves and the NHS above that of patient safety and care'.

Rishi Sunak making a statement following the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry final report yesterday

Protesters hold banners showing victims of the scandal as they waited to enter?Methodist Central Hall yesterday

Friends and families of victims of the blood contamination demonstrate at Central London Methodist Hall yesterday