Council debates troops tax break

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A campaign has begun to give some Derbyshire soldiers serving abroad an exemption from council tax.

A motion to give an exemption or a reduction on the tax while soldiers are overseas, is being looked at by Amber Valley Borough Council.

The idea has been put forward by Paul Jones, the council's Labour leader. He said the government rebate of £140 as not enough.

The proposal will be discussed by full council on Monday evening.

'Important issue'

Councillor Jones said: "What we would do is have discussions with the other authorities, like the county council and police, to see if they are prepared to forgo their share.

"If they're not we might say well we'll forgo our element of it, so our residents benefit from that.

"Its highlighting an important issue. The local authority has the discretion to do this it's just a case of the willingness of the local authority to do it."

Susan Butler, from Long Eaton, whose son Stephen Cooper is currently serving in Afghanistan, said: "I think this should have been done a long time ago.

"When you think about it they say the troops do get benefits but they work for 16-hour days.

"When you look at how much they get paid monthly - they're only getting about three pound an hour, which is below minimum wage."

The council's ruling Conservative group did not want to comment on the issue ahead of the meeting.

Troops, who are on operations for six-months in Afghanistan or Iraq, are currently entitled to a £140 rebate - which amounts to a 25% reduction in council tax for a Band D property.