§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 7 February 2002,Official Report, column 1153W, on teenage pregnancy, which of the recommendations in the Social Exclusion Unit's report on teenage pregnancy have been completed; and which of the rest have target completion dates. [42551]
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§ Yvette CooperThe following action points have been completed, as set out in the Social Exclusion Unit's report on teenage pregnancy:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30.
Implementation of all the remaining action points is under way. It is expected that action points 10, 11, and 20 will be completed by the end of 2002.
Action point 13 was to deliver guidance on the circumstances in which different health professionals may prescribe, supply and administer contraceptives to under 16s. Research is being commissioned to identify the extent and nature of confusion among health professionals to inform whether further guidance is needed.
The target completion date for action point 29 is 2003.
While the bulk of the original action plan has now been implemented, considerable further work is needed to ensure that activity is sustained and monitored, and to assess the impact of pilot programmes. Our focus remains delivery of the headline goals of halving under 18 conception rates by 2010 and increasing the participation of teenage parents in education, training and employment. The Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy published their first annual report in November 2001 which set out 49 recommendations of further action to underpin delivery of these goals. The Government will publish its response to this report later this year.