§ Mr. Andrew LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action is being taken to tackle teenage pregnancy in deprived areas; and if he will make a statement. [120773]
§ Stephen TwiggThe similar geography of teenage pregnancy and deprivation suggests that whilst there is still much work to do, the encouraging 10 per cent. decline in England's under 18 conception rate from 1998 253W to 2001 has been largely achieved through targeted work in deprived localities with high numbers of conceptions by:
the allocation of funding to Teenage Pregnancy Partnerships based on teenage pregnancy rates;the use of research and toolkits to address the needs of vulnerable groups. For example, Teenage Pregnancy and Neighbourhood Renewal: Learning from New Deal for Communities which details good practice in New Deal for Community areas and shares the main learning points from that practice;New Deal for Communities and other Neighbourhood Renewal pathfinder programmes are given support and guidance in tackling teenage pregnancy as an issue through learning events and written guidance;encouraging local strategies to target wards with a high number of teenage conceptions; andthe development of a programme of work to improve our understanding of the relationship between teenage pregnancy and socio-economic factors.The association between deprivation and teenage pregnancy is well established and reflected in the under 18 conception rates for local authorities across England. To achieve its national targets of halving the under 18 conception rate and reducing the inequality in rates between wards by at least 25 per cent. by 2010, the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy must focus its work on deprived areas with high conception rates.