§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the review of the nationality criteria for entry into the Armed Forces will be completed. [HL696]
48WA
§ Lord GilbertA comprehensive review of all nationality issues for employment in the Armed Forces has just been completed. It has now been agreed that, with effect from 1 April 1998, the rules relating to nationality extraction, that is the nationality of an applicant's parents, should be relaxed in line with the changes made for Civil Servants. In the majority of cases parents of applicants will no longer need to be British or Commonwealth citizens, or Republic of Ireland nationals. In certain circumstances, where security is of paramount importance, applicants will be looked at on a case by case basis.
It has also been agreed that the residency rules should be changed. The five year UK residency requirement for most applicants is to be relaxed to allow those who have spent less than five years in the UK entry into the Armed Forces.
We believe that these rule changes will ensure that the Armed Forces become more open for potential recruits, particularly among the ethnic minorities.
We have concluded that the existing rules relating to an applicant's own nationality should remain, namely that an applicant should be a British, British Dependent Territories or Commonwealth citizen or a Republic of Ireland national.