§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evaluation he has made of the effectiveness of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit working with local teenage pregnancy units; and if he will make a statement. [120769]
Margaret Hodge: The Teenage Pregnancy Unit was established in 1999 with a cross Whitehall remit to manage implementation of the Strategy. The first independent evaluation report of the Strategy, published in 2002, commended the joint working between the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, Regional Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinators based in Government Offices and Local Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinators who lead the implementation of strategies in each top tier local authority. The second annual report of the national evaluation will be published shortly.
The report acknowledged the success of these arrangements as a major factor in wielding influence at local level. The effectiveness of joint working was also recognised in the first annual report of the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, published in 2001. The importance of joint working was reinforced in the second annual report of the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, published in July 2003.
There are very encouraging signs that the Government's overall teenage pregnancy strategy is working. Data for 2001 published in February by the Office for National Statistics shows that conceptions among under 18-year-olds in England fell by 3 per cent. and represents a total reduction of 10 per cent. since 1998. For under 16s, the rate is 4 per cent. lower than in 2000 and represents a 10 per cent. reduction since 1998.