Public cost rising for sending military and diplomatic children to public schools The privilege exists to support children whose parents work for the government overseas. It covers the costs of schooling overseas and in Britain although almost £100m a year is spent on fees for expensive British boarding schools. Last year, defence ministers bowed to pressure and allowed servicemen to keep their children at public schools despite pledging to slash millions from Forces allowances. The MoD gave up trying to cut the allowance after intense lobbying from senior Army officers, including a Special Forces commander who was a friend of David Cameron's at Eton. It was threatened that there would be a wave of resignations from officers already fed up with cuts to troop numbers and equipment if the Continuity of Education Allowance was stopped. It comes at the same time as the Army is in the process of cutting 20,000 posts because of budget restrictions. The government rowed back on axing the £180 million CEA allowance saying it would impact on "operational effectiveness" of personnel. It is intended to help military families keep their children in the same school while their parents move around the world to different postings. Without it children's education would be "impossible," a review said. But ministers promised to reduce the bill through "efficiencies." All ranks of service personnel are eligible for the perk but, because families have to contribute at least 10 per cent, it is usually only taken up by officers. In the FCO staff who live in Britain can also receive the subsidy but only if they are in the country for between two and four years. None of the departments disclosed which private schools their staff sent their children. But details have already been revealed in answers to parliamentary questions. DfID said that 42 staff were given the allowance in 2011, which included paying course fees of £32,699 for Fettes. The bureau also reported other schools included Marlborough College and Roedean. An MoD spokesman defended the spending in a statement to the Independent, which reported the bureau's findings. "We tightened the criteria for CEA last year, resulting in a £10m saving," he said. A Foreign Office spokesman added: "The FCO refunds standard term fees for boarding at UK schools up to a ceiling which is reviewed annually. Where parents opt to send their children to schools where the termly fees are above the ceiling of the boarding school allowance, they are required to meet the cost of the difference themselves.