RANDERSON WELCOMES MOVES TO RECOGNISE RULE OF GURKHAS

10.42.37am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 3rd Oct 2007

At present, soldiers in the Gurkha Regiment can die for the British Army but their children cannot get an education for free in further or higher education because their lack of a British passport means they are treated as international students. They have a right of residence but have to be resident here for 3 years to be eligible for grants etc. That is the plight of the children of the Gurkha Regiment who have been redeployed to St Athan.

Jenny Randerson, Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Cardiff Central, wrote to Jane Hutt, the Assembly's Minister for Education and the Assembly Member for St Athan, regarding this gross injustice.

Unfortunately, although certain student support functions have been devolved to Welsh Ministers, there are wider issues involved relating to defence and immigration status, which still rest with Whitehall Departments.

Assembly officials have now made enquiries and negotiations are underway between three Whitehall Departments to try and resolve this issue: the Minister of Defence, the Home Office and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Unfortunately, agreement to allow the children of these soldiers to have access to home student support at further/higher levels is unlikely to be reached for the start of this academic year but the Minister is hopeful that progress will be made.

Jenny said: "I welcome the moves to recognise the role of the Gurkhas and trust that the bureaucratic wheels in granting them the justice they deserve will match the speed of the Prime Minister's announcement today to return 1,000 of our troops in Basra home by Christmas".