Compensation doubled for UK troops

Troops wounded while serving abroad are to have their compensation doubled as part of a major review of military personnel welfare.

The service personnel command paper from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) addresses a range of issues relating to the wellbeing of those serving in the armed forces.

"If we ask our forces to risk our lives to keep us safe then we should all be prepared to look after them while they are in service and afterwards," defence secretary Des Browne told the Commons.

Under the new measures compensation payments for injured troops will be doubled to £570,000. Those suffering minor injuries will see an 80 per cent increase on previous compensation levels.

Seriously injured personnel will not have to spend this money adapting their homes as local authority-based disability benefits assessments will disregard the compensation from now on.

Free bus travel across England for those under the age of 60 will be rolled out while severely disabled veterans will have an automatic entitlement to blue badges giving them access to disabled parking for life.

On public service issues, NHS dentists for service families will be prioritised and school placements for children in service families will be strengthened. The government will pay for "a college or university education free from tuition fees" for those serving six years in the armed forces.

Social housing for service leavers and an extension of the key worker living scheme for would-be homebuyers are also included in the measures.

"We are committed to our armed forces and veterans as they are committed to us. It is the very least we can do. Let me make absolutely clear that this is for the long-term," Mr Browne added.

Responding to the statement, shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said many of the proposals had been put forward by the Conservatives in the past year.

But he added: "If this is the beginning of a genuinely constructive and bipartisan approach… then it's something I believe the whole country will welcome."

Defence officials will have been keen to address concerns relating to these issues after a survey last week revealed 47 per cent of personnel regularly consider quitting.

Later today General Sir Richard Dannatt, chief of the general staff, will tell centre-left thinktank Progress that he believes the armed forces should be "the very epitome of the welfare state".

Concerns about the stretched nature of Britain's military, which is currently seeing lengthy deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan, have led many senior armed forces personnel to warn the military covenant is being stretched.

Retention of personnel is seen as the biggest problem this may cause. Nearly half of respondents to last week's survey felt overall morale in the services as a whole was low.

Most felt proud but 46 per cent said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement 'I feel valued in the service'.