Facts and Figures

• The rate of under 18 conception in Newcastle is significantly higher than the national average and three of it's four statistical neighbours (South Tyneside, Leeds and Gateshead), (Teenage Pregnancy Unit (TPU), 2007)

Source: Teenage Pregnancy Unit (TPU) 2008

• In 2006 there were 242 under 18 conceptions. 43% led to abortions. (TPST 2007)
• 16/17 year olds account for 80% teenage conceptions in Newcastle. (Epidemiology 2005)

Trends

Source; Office for national Statistics

The chart below shows the number of conceptions in each of the fist 3 Quarters of 2007 to be up on the same period last year.   The Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood Partnership Board (TPPPB) is closely monitoring local data for 2007.

Source: Performance Report No 3 - Newcastle PCT

All work in the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy aims to provide excellent universal services for all young people with specific targeting of services and support for young people:

• Most at risk of becoming teenage parents as defined in the National Teenage Pregnancy Unit's Teenage Pregnancy: working towards 2010 Good practice and self assessment toolkit (2006)
• Living in Teenage Pregnancy 'Hotspot' areas of the city. These areas fluctuate, in 2004-6 the neighbourhoods with the highest teenage pregnancy rates were:
  • North & South Cowgate
  • Coxlodge/Regent Farm East
  • Cheviot View
  • North Newbiggin Hall Estate
  • Walker Park
• The under 18 conception rate in the most deprived neighbourhoods in Newcastle (those neighbourhoods which are amongst the 10% most deprived in England) is a lot higher than Newcastle as a whole. For example, the 2006 rate for Newcastle as a whole was 53.4, but in the most deprived neighbourhoods it was as high as 87.6. (Performance Report no.1)
• A quarter of the women (24%) accessing the service provided by the Teenage Pregnancy Support Team (TPST) in 2007-08 came from NE5 (West Denton, Cowgate, Newbiggin Hall, Westerhope). 22% came from NE6 (Walker, Heaton and Byker) and 20% from NE15 (Lemington, Throckley, North Walbottle, Denton Burn and Old Benwell.) (TPST 2008)

Pregnant service users by postcode areas 2007-8

•  Almost all of the TPST service users in 2007-8 were White British, and the majority were aged 16 and 17 years old, although there were a few 14 year olds.
• Over a third (43/114) of service users were neither employed nor in education or training. A similar proportion of the biological fathers were neither employed nor in education. Their age is not recorded.
• Similar data was presented in the October 2006-March 2007 and August 2005-August 2006 reports. In 2006-07, nearly half of the females accessing the service came from NE15, and a quarter from NE6. The data from 2005-06 more closely mirrors the data presented for 2007-08 in terms of postcode areas. (TPST 2006 and TPST 2007)

Targets

• Newcastle has a target of a 55% reduction in the under-18 conception rate by 2010, from the baseline year (1998) rate of 52.8 per 1000 females aged 15-17 to a rate of 23.8 (with an interim target of a 15% reduction by 2004 to a rate of 44.9) (Strategy Review, 2006).

This target is containined in the Newcastle Partnerships Local Area Agreement 2008 - 2011

Performance

National

• Significant progress has been made nationally with the national teenage pregnancy rate the lowest it has been for 20 years.  The national teenage pregnancy rate dropped from 46.6 in 1998 to 40.4 in 2006. 
• The teenage pregnancy rate for the North East dropped from 56.5 in 1998 to 48.8 2006. (Performance Report no.1)

Newcastle upon Tyne

• The under-18 conception rate for Newcastle fell from 54.4 in 2005 to 53.4 in 2006.  This was the second year in a row that the rate dropped in Newcastle (in 2005 the rate went down to 54.4 from 58.9 in 2004).  However the rate for 2006 remained above the 1998 baseline rate (52.8).
• The number of conceptions reduced from 257 in 2005 to 246 in 2006 (ONS)

All rates are per 1000 femail aged 15-17.  Reporting by the Office of National Statistics is always 2 years behind the current date. 

• The under 16 conception rate fell from 11.7 in the period 2000-02 to 10.1 in the period 2003-05 but it was still higher than the national average of 8 and 7.7 respectively.
• The percentage of under 18 conceptions leading to abortion fluctuated annually between 1998 and 2006 with no significant increase or decrease. It ranged from 35% at its lowest to 44% at its highest, averaging at 39%. In 2006 the figure was 43%. (Performance Report no.1)
• The accelerated reduction necessary for Newcastle to meet the 2010 target remains a significant challenge.

Reductions in rates in other areas show that it can be done and both the National Teenage Pregnancy Unit and Newcastle's Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood Partnership Board are closely tracking successful areas to learn from effective practice.

Local Views

A Teenage Pregnancy Strategy Development Day was held on 18 January 2008 for a mixture of practitioners and young people. One thing that was noted in the evaluation was the importance and value of young people being involved. Others suggestions included:

• enabling parents to talk to their children about SRE;
• making sure information about services is appropriate - get feedback from young people, evaluate and update;
• important to link in with the You're Welcome process - for training for practitioners;
• develop sexual health services, advice, signposting in generic services including Connexions - discussions with heads of services and consultation with young people around the services they want and where they want to access it e.g. at Streetwise/Connexions rather than Sexual Health services;
• the importance of outreach work, especially for young people not at school;
• an expectation that someone from the TPPB should attend young people’s groups;
• find more innovative ways of getting information out to young people e.g. by text, on the internet;
• provide specific information for young men on sex and relationships and becoming a parent;
• SEAL to be rolled out to all secondary schools.

National and Local Strategies

The Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood Strategy is a ten-year national strategy set out in the Social Exclusion Report on Teenage Pregnancy (1999).  The teenage pregnancy reduction target is now a Public Service Agreement (PSA) jointly held by DfES and Department of Health (DH) and is also a national PSA target for Local Government.

 The under 18 conception rate is one of the five national indicators of PSA 14: increasing the number of children and young people on the path to success.  Progress on teenage pregnancy and chlamydia screening is also a priority for PCTs in the NHS Operating Framework.

 'Every Child Matters' has provided an essential framework for Teenage Pregnancy Work in Newcastle with Teenage Pregnancy work contributing to all 5 outcomes, Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Enjoy and Achieve, Make a Positive Contribution and Achieve Economic Wellbeing.

The national targets are:

To reduce the 1998 under 18 conception rate in England by 50% by 2010, with an interim target of a 15% reduction by 2004.

• To achieve a well-established downward trend in the under 16 conception rate by 2010.
• Reduce the inequality rates between the fifth of the wards with the highest under 18 conception rate and the average ward by at least 25% by 2010.
• Increase to 60% the participation of teenage parents in education, training or employment to risk their long-term social exclusion by 2010.
• All under 18 teenage lone parents who cannot live with family or partner should be placed in supervised semi-independent housing with support, not in an independent tenancy. (Strategy 2008)

Newcastle's current strategies and priorities

The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy focuses on two key areas of work: prevention of teenage pregnancies and support for teenage parents. 

• The Strategy has been underway since 2000.
• Newcastle's 2006 - 2008 Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was substantially reworked with wide consultation and key Board members taking a lead on clear, targeted and focused objectives across the five key areas: Co-ordination, Communication, Access to Services, SRE and Support (Strategy 2008)

 The three urgent priorities given in the Teenage Pregnancy Review (7/2/2008) were 

• senior local sponsorship and engagement of all key partners;
• provision of young people focused contraception/ sexual health services;
• strong delivery of SRE/PSHE by schools. 

The Teenage Pregnancy Unit (TPU), in a recent 'deep dive' review (2005) of three well performing and three poorly performing Local Authorities (LA), found that where LAs were successful in reducing under-18 conception rates the following were a priority: 

• the seniority and personal commitment of key post-holders;
• the existence of discrete, credible, highly visible, young people friendly Contraception and Sexual Health Services (CASH) services;
• strong SRE delivery both in and out of schools, with targeted work with vulnerable groups e.g. Looked After Children (LAC), and work in both primary and secondary schools;
• workforce training on sex and relationship issues;
• a well resourced youth service with a clear remit to tackle social issues such as sexual health, working with both men and women;
• different service providers for young people working together with a holistic approach to ensure make the most of signposting different services at all opportunities (Strategy 2006 and Deep Dive 2005). 

Newcastle's Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood Partnership Board members visited Liverpool's Teenage Pregnancy, Contraceptive and Sexual Health Services (to Brook Clinic, Abacus CASH, Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator, PHSE Lead and So to Speak) in January 2006 to investigates how they had managed to reduce their teenage pregnancy rates where Newcastle had failed.  

Things noted during the visits included: 

• the whole emphasis of their Teenage Pregnancy strategy is on prevention;
• highly efficient So to Speak Sexual Health Outreach Service targeting very high risk young people;
• very accessible long-standing contraception and sexual health services (CASH) services;
• also possibly sex and relationship education (SRE) work in primary schools;
• significant SRE training in secondary schools and school health service;
• Teenage Pregnancy Midwife and Abacus focus on preventing secondary pregnancies;
• good signposting of CASH and Abortion services. (Liverpool, 2006) 

NHS North of Tyne Strategic Plan outlines that there is  a need for more robust data collection systems to monitor the uptake of contraceptive and sexual health services

Current Activity and Services

The Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordination Task Group and Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood Partnership Board oversee all of the work of this strategy and ensure objectives of the strategy are met to ensure a reduction in Newcastle's Teenage Pregnancy rates.

Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) 

'Teenage Kicks' dedicated Sex Relationship Education (SRE) Outreach Team are working with all key partners to develop a comprehensive SRE programme which includes SRE specifically targeted at young people most at risk of becoming teenage parents and those living in 'hotspot' areas of the city, excellent quality SRE in schools and community settings, as well as work with parents to help them to talk to their children about sex and relationships.  The Newcastle SRE Quality Mark will ensure consistency in SRE across the city with a comprehensive training programme to support all practitioners working face to face with young people to give them excellent support around sex and relationships. (Strategy 2008)

• So far Teenage Kicks has worked with 10 schools, 22 play and youth projects, 12 training providers, 15 voluntary organisations, 24 groups representing vulnerable young people. The team have worked with 1332 individual young people in the city, a total of 2173 contacts. The focus has been particularly on youth settings in the hotspot areas of Walker and Westgate. (Teenage Kicks 2008)

Communications

An innovative, targeted media and publicity campaign which primarily targets young people, parents / carers and practitioners working with young people to ensure that young people are encouraged to delay early sex until they are sure they are ready and that when they do choose to have sex they know how to protect themselves and where to access support and contraception. (Strategy 2008)

Access to Services

A wide range of free and confidential services and support for young people where and when they need them in city centre venues, local communities and schools.  Ensuring that services are accessible to young people living in 'hotspot' areas of the city and targeted to young people most at risk of becoming teenage parents.  Services undertaking the 'You're Welcome' process to ensure they are young people friendly.

• There are currently 22 open access C. Card outlets in the city, and others which offer C. Card to their clientele (e.g. youth offending team, drug and alcohol services.)
• WEYES (West End Youth Enquiry Service) based in the West End of Newcastle and Streetwise based in the City are young people's projects for 13-25 year olds. WEYES had 3,699 contacts with young people in 05/06. 80% of all C. Card contacts by young people in Newcastle in 05/06 were made through Streetwise, which had 17,081 contacts with young people, 8,539 of which received sexual health services.
• Other services include nurse/doctor led CASH sessions, offering full range of sexual health services; GUM which offers Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) testing and treatment; Health 4 U and Health 4 U Plus sessions which offer health and sexual health advice and information in secondary schools and some primary schools; free emergency contraception in pharmacies; pregnancy decision making counselling available through the Teenage Pregnancy Support Team and Streetwise; and terminations available on the NHS and at the RVI. (Strategy 2008)

Support for Teenage Parents

The dedicated Teenage Pregnancy Support Team (TPST)is working with all key partners to ensure that young mothers and fathers receive excellent support throughout their pregnancy and after their baby is born. A multi-agency scan clinic at the RVI enables young people to access the support they need such as help with housing and benefits, counselling support and ante natal and parenting support groups with other young mums and young dads.  The teenage pregnancy midwives undertake contraception plans with young women and offer them the services and support they need to avoid second pregnancies.

Other services providing support across the city include a Reintegration Officer, Ashlyns School, the Foundation Project, Connexions, the Educational Achievement and Health Support Team, housing support and Sure Start Children's Centres. (Strategy 2008)

• In 2006 the Teenage Pregnancy Support Team helped 286 young people and in 2007 helped 238 young mums and 103 young dads. (TPST 2006)