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Teenage Pregnancies

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Sure Start Plus in reducing levels of teenage pregnancies in the UK's most deprived areas; and if she will make a statement; [55930]

(2) what the rate of pregnancy among under 18s was in the most deprived areas in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement; [55934]

(3) what assessment she has made of the causes of high teenage pregnancy rates in deprived areas. [55935]

Beverley Hughes: The primary purpose of the Sure Start Plus pilots is to improve health and education outcomes for young mothers and their children. However, Sure Start Plus also has a role in reducing the incidence of repeat unplanned pregnancies and increasing the proportion of young mothers in education, employment and training, because these reduce their likelihood of long-term social exclusion, and act as protective factors against their children becoming teenage parents themselves.

There is a strong link between social deprivation and higher rates of teenage pregnancy. The following table compares the average under-18 conception rate in the 20 per cent. most deprived local authorities (LAs) and the 20 per cent. least deprived, for each year from 1997
 
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to 2003 (the latest year for which data are available). The table shows that, on average, rates in the most deprived 20 per cent. local authorities are a third higher than the
 
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national average. Ward level conception statistics show even greater differences between the most deprived and least deprived areas.

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
England average	45.5	46.6	44.8	43.6	42.5	42.6	42.1
Most deprived 5th local authorities	60.2	60.9	59.2	57.5	55.5	56.0	56.3
2nd most deprived	49.8	51.4	48.7	47.6	46.5	46.8	45.4
3rd most deprived	41.8	41.1	40.5	38.5	37.8	38.2	36.9
4th most deprived	32.7	34.6	31.9	31.9	31.2	30.0	30.3
Least deprived 5th local authorities	26.6	27.9	25.8	25.5	24.9	24.9	24.5

Note:
Rates per 1,000 females aged 15–17.
Sources:
ONS and TPU, 2005.

The causes of teenage pregnancy are complex. The table demonstrates the strong link to social deprivation. However, analysis shows that deprivation is not the only factor. Over and above deprivation, teenage pregnancy rates are influenced by factors such as educational attainment and rates of attendance at school. A full analysis of the causes of teenage pregnancy will be included in a strategy document setting out the next phase of the teenage pregnancy strategy, due to be published shortly.

Mr. McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teenage pregnancies there were in Wolverhampton in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [56297]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 7 March 2006]: In 2004, the under-18 conception rate for Wolverhampton was 60.8 per 1,000 young women aged 15–17 (290conceptions), compared to a rate of 66.3 per 1,000 (307 conceptions) in 1998—the baseline year for the teenage pregnancy strategy. This represents an 8.3 per cent. fall in the under-18 conception rate in Wolverhampton, compared to an 11.1 per cent. fall in the rate in England over the same period.

The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is making steady progress, with both under-18 and under-16 conception rates now at their lowest levels since the mid-1980s. However, we need to accelerate progress to achieve the challenging PSA target to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010. We will shortly be publishing a strategy document setting out our plans for improving performance during the next phase of the strategy.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Attendance Allowance

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the average period of time between a claim for attendance allowance being approved and the first payment being received by the claimant. [57148]

Mrs. McGuire: The administration of attendance allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the disability and carers service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Terry Moran:

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average period of time between a claim for attendance allowance being approved and the first payment being received by the claimant.

The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.

The first payment made following an award of attendance allowance will usually be a payment of arrears and this takes up to 7 days to reach the customer's account, if benefit is paid into a bank/ building society or Post Office account. If the seventh day is a Saturday or a Sunday, payment will be credited into the account the Friday before.

There are still a small minority of cases where payments are made by cheques. These cheques are posted by first class mail to the customer the day after the payments are authorised, having been printed over night.

As at February 2006, 98.4% of attendance allowance payments are made into an account with only 1.6% paid by cheque.

In the case of forward dated awards of attendance allowance, the first payment will be from when entitlement begins.

I hope this is helpful.

Benefit Fraud

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what collaborative projects his Department has undertaken with the Merseyside Police Authority to combat fraudulent activities in relation to benefits; and if he will make a statement. [56995]

Mr. Plaskitt: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave her on 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 597W.

Benefits (Torfaen)

Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Torfaen constituency have claimed (a) incapacity benefit, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) income support in each year since 1997. [55826]

 
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Mr. Plaskitt: Information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the tables.
Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants in the Torfaen parliamentary constituency

As at August each year:	Number
1997	7,300
1998	7,100
1999	7,000
2000	7,000
2001	7,000
2002	7,000
2003	6,800
2004	6,500
2005	6,400

Notes:
1.The parliamentary constituency figures for the years 1997 to 1998 have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals.
2.Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
3.'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance, including IB credits only cases.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples from 1997 to 1998 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data thereafter.




Income support (IS) and jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants in the Torfaen parliamentary constituency

As at August each year:	Jobseeker's allowance	Income support
1997	2,159	4,500
1998	1,956	4,400
1999	1,671	4,400
2000	1,477	4,500
2001	1,334	4,600
2002	1,308	4,500
2003	1,297	4,300
2004	998	4,200
2005	1,053	3,900

Notes:
1.Jobseeker's allowance figures are unrounded, income support figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
2.To allow for meaningful comparison across the time series, income support figures do not include pensioners; pensioner's claims were transferred to pension credit in October 2003.
3.JSA figures are not seasonally adjusted.
4.IS figures for August 1999 to August 2005 have been taken from 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, figures for August 1997 to August 1998 have been uprated using 5 per cent. case loads. JSA figures have been taken from the 100 per cent. unemployment claimant count using NOMIS.
Sources:
DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS), Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples and count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems (including clerically held cases).

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