Children, Schools and Families written question – answered at on 19 July 2007.
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
(1) what budget was allocated to the Teenage Pregnancy Unit in each year since 2000; and what budget has been allocated to the unit for the next three years;
(2) what projects are being undertaken by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit;
(3) how many civil servants are working for the Teenage Pregnancy Unit; and what their job descriptions are;
(4) what percentage of teenage (a) mothers and (b) fathers were in education, training or employment in each of the last 10 years.
The budget allocated to support delivery of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy since its launch in 1999 is provided in the following table. The table identifies separately the amounts spent on: local implementation (paid through a local implementation grant to each top-tier local authority in England); and the amount retained by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit (TPU) to pay for aspects of the strategy that are best managed centrally, such as funding for the national media campaign. Budgets for the next Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period have not yet been fixed.
£ m illion | |||
Financial year | Local implementation | Central costs | Total |
1999-2000 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 5 |
2000-01 | 11.5 | 4.5 | 16 |
2001-02 | 16 | 5 | 21 |
2002-03 | 16 | 5 | 21 |
2003-04 | (1)33 | 7 | 40 |
2004-05 | (1)33 | 7 | 40 |
2005-06 | (1)33 | 5 | 38 |
2006-07 | 29.5 | 5.5 | 35 |
2007-08 (provisional) | 29.5 | 5.5 | 35 |
(1 )Budgets in years 2003-04 to2005-06 included funding for the Sure Start Plus pilots |
The main priorities for the TPU over the last 12 months have been: to deliver the 'national level' commitments set out in 'Teenage Pregnancy Next Steps: Guidance for Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts on Effective Delivery of Local Strategies'—designed to accelerate progress towards our target to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010; and to develop a strategy to improve outcomes for teenage parents and their children, which will be published shortly.
There are currently five civil servants who work in the TPU. Their job titles are:
1. National Programme Manager
2. National Policy Manager
3. National Support Manager
4. Support for Local Implementation
5. Admin Officer
No data are available on the proportion of teenage fathers in education, employment or training (EET). The proportion of teenage mothers aged 16-19 in EET has increased from an average of 23.1 per cent. for the period 1997-99, to an average of 29.2 per cent. for the period 2004-06.
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
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