Dear Adminblunty and Adams Nam,
Thanks for the guidance. I essence I am dealing with two cases here - I am lending a hand to a colleague (who is currently OOA) who is returning to the UK this summer, who has experienced some difficulties in getting the County Council Admissions team to understand he and his family are UK nationals and thus entitled to a free school place (see above). After digging around a bit (and thanks for all the guidance) the Admissions Team have accepted that they do not have to 'demonstrate entitlement' as part of the admissions and allocations process. Perhaps I should have used CEAS to run with this, but (qv) my previous experience of them was 'less than Stellar'.
However, arising from this matter is the separate issue of University admissions in a couple of years' time for my son and local schooling at my next Post for my younger daughter, after a stay of 15 months in the UK starting this Summer (hopefully not anticipating the difficulties that my colleague has had). As you have deduced, I am going to a Mission and the CLO has been particularly helpful via a vis international schooling for my daughter and I will raise with the CLO the matter of my son/boarding school/university/ordinarily resident etc.
It is heartening to read the body of case law that can demonstrate being 'ordinarily resident' and I look forward to rolling these out idc. Once in Post, we will get our breather flights, MTL and 'reverse' SCV back to UK and retain a property there, quite apart from being subjects and Citizens. Discussing this with a US friend (who is an Attorney, by chance) he is astounded that local authorities and Government Departments can't or won't use their judgment along the lines of: 'British officer (complete with letter from the Queen proving this), British family, serving on Sovereign British Territory, employed by HMG, paid in Sterling, paying UK taxes, ergo they are resident British'. But no. You have to prove all of this, from a position of being regarded as Alien and thus hostile.
Perhaps we embue officials with too much common sense, vide Service children born abroad in British Military Hospitals who have to jump through all sorts of hoops to demonstrate their, err, Britishness
Last edited by Whenurhappy; 7th Jun 2013 at 07:14.