Report to County Council Date: 24 th February 2010

Item: Freedom of the County to The King’s Royal

Presented by the Leader: Cllr Barry Dare

For Debate and Decision

1. Purpose of Report To recommend to the County Council that Gloucestershire honours, celebrates and extends its links with The King’s for their brave and loyal service over the years, through granting the Regiment the prestigious award of the ‘Freedom of the County of Gloucestershire’. This will involve the presentation of a ceremonial scroll at a special ceremony.

Gloucestershire County Council also wishes to reaffirm its continuing support for all armed forces and their families, to recognise the sacrifices made by them on behalf of this nation and to endorse continuous public support for our service personnel.

2. Background Gloucestershire County Council takes pride in its links with all its military personnel and recognises this particular regiment’s brave service over the years.

The King’s Royal Hussars is an armoured regiment with a long history and great cavalry traditions. It was formed on 4 th December 1992 by the amalgamation of The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’ own - formed from The 10 th Hussars and 11 th Hussars in 1969) and The 14 th /20 th King’s Hussars, amalgamated into The 14 th /20 th Kings Hussars in 1922.

The Regiment was awarded its new Regimental Guidon (Standard) by the -in-Chief, Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, in August 2000. It has a long and proud history which has its roots in the amalgamation of four very individual Cavalry Regiments. Prior to amalgamation, The 11 th Hussars recruited exclusively from Gloucestershire. Now recruiting from a number of counties, the Regiment has maintained close ties through the local Territorial Army, The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars (RGH) and local Army Careers Offices and has a very strong membership of the Regimental Association in Gloucestershire.

Former members of The Royal Hussars and The 14 th /20 th King’s Hussars are still serving in the Regiment today and many saw active service in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and the first Gulf War in 1991. Since its amalgamation, The King's Royal Hussars have been deployed on operations in Northern Ireland (1994 and 2002), Bosnia (1997) and Kosovo (1999), as well as deploying for major exercises in Poland and regular training at the ’s main armoured training area in Alberta, Canada.

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More recently the Regiment has been heavily involved in the deployments to Iraq (2005 and 2007) and Afghanistan (2008). Last year (2009) its personnel underwent training to prepare for an operational tour in Iraq.

3. Context Gloucestershire County Council takes pride in its association with its local servicemen and women. It has already honoured 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron (April 2006) and The Rifles (June 2009) with the Freedom of the County. This honour grants the right to undertake ceremonial duties within the county and enable these service personnel to formally promote their links with Gloucestershire in various activities around the world.

4. Options Following the Chief Executive’s consultation with the Chairman of the County Council and Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, the following is proposed:

a) That in honour of their brave and loyal service and sacrifice overseas on behalf of the nation, The King’s Royal Hussars be asked to accept the Freedom of the County through the presentation of a scroll at a suitable ceremony, followed by a small reception (to be determined and arranged)

b) That the Deputy Chief Executive be authorised to proceed with the necessary arrangements.

5. Resource implications At this early stage it is difficult to identify costs but it is anticipated that these will be met from within existing resources . Nearer the time, details will be brought forward to Group Leaders for consideration.

6. Recommendations a) That the County Council agrees all the above options as outlined in 4. above

b) Subject to the agreement of 4. above, the Chairman of the County Council be asked to write to The King’s Royal Hussars, asking the Regiment to accept the honour of the Freedom of the County of Gloucestershire.

c) Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and the Chairman of the County Council, together with other civic dignitaries lead a ceremony to present the Freedom of the County to the Regiment.

Contact officer Peter Jones Deputy Chief Executive Gloucestershire County Council. Date: 10 th February 2010 2