An extra £20.5 million will help young people get better access to contraception and support for teenagers and raise the awareness of the risks of unprotected sex, Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo and Young People's Minister Beverley Hughes announced today.

The announcement follows the publication of data from the Office for National Statistics which shows the overall pregnancy rate among under-18s in England and Wales has risen for the first time since 2002.

The cash supports the teenage pregnancy strategy that is focused on encouraging young people to delay early sex and to practice safe sex as and when they do become sexually active.

The new package of support and investment to promote the use of contraception includes:

• £7 million for a new 'contraceptive choices' media campaign to raise awareness of the different options - including Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) - available to young people, to prevent teenage conceptions.
• £10 million for local health services to ensure contraception is available in the right places at the right time.
• £1 million to support further education colleges develop and expand on-site contraception and sexual health services to help address the fact that 80 per cent of under-18 conceptions are among 16-17 year olds.
• A further £2.5m will help develop a Healthy College programme and help all services meet the Department of Health's 'You're Welcome' standards for young people friendly services.
• Figures released by the Office of National Statistics today show that the increase in teenage pregnancy rates in the first three quarters of 2007 is due to a rise in unplanned conceptions ending in abortion, and not an increase in teenage mothers giving birth.

However, the under 18 conception rate for the final quarter of 2007 is two per cent lower than the same quarter in 2006 - suggesting that the drive to reduce teenage conceptions is continuing in the right direction.

Where there have been rises, and given these have resulted in abortions not births, this suggests that young people are not accessing effective contraception and may be engaging in more risky behaviour - pointing to the need for better advice and information about sex and relationships both from their parents and in schools.

Young people say they would prefer advice from parents and that is why the Government has invested in support for parents to help them talk more openly to their children. The Government has already announced its intention to make Sex and Relationships Education compulsory as part of Personal Social Health Education, and all schools will be provided with new SRE guidance this September.

Evidence shows that where the Government's teenage pregnancy strategy is implemented rigorously, significant reductions in teenage pregnancy rates have been achieved, such as in Oldham where rates have dropped by 29 per cent.

The Government wants this success replicated across the country and is today calling on all local areas to redouble their efforts to drive a robust approach to reducing teenage pregnancy rates.

Despite the rise in national figures in the last year the long-term trend is still downward and overall there has been a 10.7 per cent reduction in under-18 conceptions and a 23.3 per cent decline in teenage births since the start of the Government's strategy in 1998.

In 2006 the rates dropped to their lowest level in 20 years. Tackling teenage pregnancy requires sustained action by local authorities, the NHS parents, schools, and young people themselves.

Children and Young People's Minister, Beverley Hughes said: "Today's teenage pregnancy statistics are disappointing, although the reduction in the last quarter of 2007 over 2006 gives me cautious optimism that the drive to reduce teenage pregnancy conceptions is still on track.

"There is no doubt that rates have come down where local areas have implemented the strategy properly, even in deprived areas.

"The evidence suggests that more teenagers may have been engaging in risky behaviour and not using contraception, resulting in an increase in conceptions leading to abortion.
"Our strategy is to encourage teenagers to delay early sexual activity, but to use contraception when they do become sexually active.

"We have already announced our intention to make sex and relationship education (SRE) compulsory and we will be providing new SRE guidance to schools this September. This is in addition to more support for parents to help them talk more openly to their children about sex and relationships.

"And for the minority of families where parents are failing in their responsibilities we will continue our programmes of intensive family support which we know works in getting parents to do better by their children.

"Reducing teenage pregnancy requires everyone to play their part - parents, health, local authorities and schools. Where progress has slowed, efforts must be redoubled and we will be focusing our challenge on those areas with high and increasing rates."

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "Young people need good advice and easy access to contraception when they become sexually active. To help, we are improving access to contraception by providing an extra £20.5 million funding this year.

"We are supporting the NHS to offer women of all ages the full range of contraceptive choices, including long acting, reversible, methods such as implants and injections which are virtually 100 per cent effective.

"And we're giving local health services more money to come up with innovative ways of making sure young women use their contraceptives properly, such as text message reminders."

Further Education Minister Sion Simon said: "The Further Education sector has an important contribution to make in tackling sexual health issues. Colleges are ideally placed to offer support and advice to young people, and this extra investment will allow them to develop and expand on-site contraception and sexual health services.

"Providing health advice services on-site avoids FE students having to take time off from their studies, helps them to deal quickly with health concerns that might be impacting negatively on their learning and can help avoid them dropping out of learning altogether."

The Government has issued clear guidance on effective strategies, which all areas must follow with a concerted and consistent approach. Ministers will be meeting with senior officials from Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts in areas with high rates as well as receiving six monthly reports on the actions they are taking to strengthen their strategies.

The Government has also taken action since 2007 to strengthen delivery of the strategy, which is not reflected in the statistics out today.

For the minority of families needing additional support, we have a range of parenting programmes designed to identify problems early and provide intensive help. These include the Family Nurse Partnerships for young mothers and Family Intervention Projects being expanded to all areas this year.

From April this year, all areas will have at least two parenting experts to work with families and children experiencing serious problems.

In their guidance on Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC), NICE estimated that if seven per cent of women switched from the pill to LARC methods (doubling current usage to 15 per cent) the NHS could save around £100 million each year through reducing unplanned pregnancies by 73,000.