Anne Milton (Shadow Minister, Health; Guildford, Conservative)

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many conceptions and what (a) rate and (b) percentage of conceptions there were for (i) under 18-year-olds and (ii) under 16-year-olds in each (A) strategic health authority area, (B) local authority area and (C) primary care trust area in each quarter from 1998.

Angela Smith (Minister of State (Third Sector), Cabinet Office; Basildon, Labour)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Jil Matheson:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many conceptions and what (a) rate and (b) percentage of conceptions there were for (i) under 18 year olds and (ii) under 16 year olds in each (A) strategic health authority area, (B) local authority area and (C) primary care trust area in each quarter from 1998. (295888)

Figures on conceptions are estimates based on the number of live births, stillbirths or legal abortions. They do not include miscarriages and illegal abortions.

Table 1 provides numbers of conceptions to women aged (i) under 18 by (B) local authority district, for each quarter from 1998 to 2007 (the most recent year for which figures are available). Quarterly figures on conceptions to women aged under 16 are not published in order to protect the privacy of individuals. Rates and percentages by local authority district for each quarter could not be provided without disproportionate cost.

Table 2 provides (a) numbers, (b) percentages and (c) rates for conceptions to women aged (i) under 18 and (ii) under 16 for (A) Strategic Health Authorities for each year from 1998 to 2007.

Table 3a provides (a) numbers and (b) percentages for conceptions to women aged (i) under 18 for (B) local authority districts for each year from 1998 to 2007. Table 3b provides (a) numbers for conceptions to women aged (ii) under 16 for (B) local authority districts in three-year aggregated groups from 1998 to 2006 (the most recent year for which figures are available). Figures on conceptions to women aged under 16 are not published for local authority districts in order to protect the privacy of individuals. To protect the privacy of individuals, some cells in the tables have been suppressed or geographies collapsed in accordance with ONS guidelines on confidentiality. Details are given on the relevant tables. Further figures could not be provided without disproportionate cost.

Table 4 provides numbers of conceptions to women aged (i) under 18 by (C) primary care organisation for 2007, the only year for which figures are available. Further figures by primary care organisation could not be provided without disproportionate cost.

A copy of the tables has been placed in the House of Commons Library.