Criticism over teen pregnancies

The Government has been accused of being "20 years" behind its target of halving teenage pregnancies despite official figures showing rates had dropped yet again.

Labour had aimed to halve the number of under 18 pregnancies by 2010, from a baseline figure set in 1998.

But pregnancy figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed rates for 15 to 17-year-olds in England were not on course to hit the target.

In 1998 the rate was 46.6 per 1,000, whereas in 2006 it was 40.4, a decrease of 13%.

In England and Wales, the conception rate fell from 41.4 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17 in 2005 to 40.7 in 2006.

The under-age conception rate also went down. In 2006 it was 7.7 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 13-15 compared with 7.8 in 2005, a decrease of 1%.

Liberal Democrat Children and Families spokeswoman, Annette Brooke said: "At this rate of improvement, the Government will be 20 years late in meeting its target of halving the number of teenage pregnancies."

The Government has also published a league table showing the teenage pregnancy trends for local authorities, which showed huge variations in how the rate has changed since 1998.

Minister for Children, Young People and Families Beverley Hughes said: "I would like to congratulate the 89% of local authorities where rates are continuing to fall - further evidence that where areas apply our Teenage Pregnancy Strategy effectively, we are getting results.

"However, there is still work to do and there are still some areas where the level of teenage pregnancy is unacceptably high."

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