§ Sir Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate of teenage conception in the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority was in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [167394]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
844WLetter from Len Cook to Sir Nicholas Winterton, dated 26 April 2004:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the rate of teenage pregnancy in the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority was in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.
For this purpose, 'teenagers' are interpreted as the under 18 age group, in line with the target set by The Government Strategy on Teenage Pregnancy. The numbers of conceptions arc estimated from registrations of live and still births, and notifications of abortions. They exclude miscarriages before the 24th week of gestation.
The teenage conception rates for Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority for 1992 to 2001, the latest year for which figures are available, are shown in the table below.
Number, rate Number of conceptions Conception rate1 1992 1,916 45.2 1993 1,913 46.2 1994 1,853 44.2 1995 1,934 46.0 1996 2,143 48.3 1997 2,051 49.1 1998 2,100 47.8 1999 2,093 47.1 2000 2,027 44.1 20012 1,938 41.0 1The rate shown represents the number of conceptions among all females aged under 18 per 1,000 females aged 15 to 17. 22 Rate for 2001 is provisional. Source: Office for National Statistics