Immigration: Gurkhas

Nick Harvey
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Gurkha veterans have claimed resettlement rights since August 2009; and how many of them are receiving (a) pension credit, (b) housing benefit and (c) council tax benefit.

Mr. Woolas
Any former member of the Brigade of Gurkhas who served for four years or more is eligible to apply for settlement in the UK. Since we published our revised guidance in 2009 we have granted settlement to 2,179 individuals.

The UK's benefit systems do not record the nationality of people receiving benefits because nationality is not a condition of entitlement.