Troops to Get Better Housing, Tax Breaks

LONDON - The government pledged to improve living conditions for British troops on Tuesday by spending an extra 80 million pounds on housing and offering tax relief for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The concessions come after mounting criticism over the treatment of Britain's front-line soldiers, including from army chief Sir Richard Dannatt and the Royal British Legion who say the armed forces are being taken for granted.

Poor accommodation, patchy healthcare provision for wounded soldiers and support for bereaved families are all areas that have been neglected, critics say.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will pay less council tax.

Those who undertake a six-month tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan will be entitled to a 140-pound rebate -- about 25 percent of the average bill.

The new council tax relief measure comes into force in October.

Defence Secretary Des Browne said he would also pump an extra 80 million pounds into the Single Living Accommodation Modernisation (SLAM) project.

The ministry said the extra money would fund an additional 1,350 new en-suite bedrooms, increasing the number of single living spaces to be refurbished or built to 50,000 over the next six years.

Browne said the measures underlined the government's commitment to support troops and their families.

"We intend to extend this payment to all those deployed overseas on operations next year," he said of the tax relief.

The MoD said the rebate will be on top of a tax-free operational allowance paid at the end of a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan which it said was worth 2,320 pounds over six month posting.

Shadow Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, in a statement, dismissed the tax-relief move as spin, pointing out that there was no new money in the existing defence budget to fund it.

"This has all the hallmarks of the MoD being bounced into giving a good headline to Number 10," he said.

He also said the measure was divisive because it discriminated between staff on different operations.