TORBAY'S teenage pregnancy rate has rocketed more than anywhere else in the country, latest figures reveal.

Bucking the national downward trend in women aged under 18 becoming pregnant over the past decade, the Bay actually saw a hike of almost 50 per cent.

Torbay also saw a significant increase on the year, while other areas saw a drop from a 'spike' in 2007.

The Government says it is 'disappointed' at the increase in Torbay, and revealed it wrote to the council at the end of last year to raise its concerns.

A total of 159 women under 18 fell pregnant in Torbay in 2008, up from 138 in 2007 figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

This gave an under-18 conception rate in 2008 of 64.9 per 1,000 women age 15 to 17 falling pregnant.

This is compared to 44.2 in 1998 — an increase of 47 per cent.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "With such good progress in other areas in the South West, the increase in teenage conceptions in Torbay is particularly disappointing.

"In November we wrote to the council to outline our concerns and are aware Torbay has a very significant challenge ahead to reduce teenage pregnancies."

The latest figures come after Torbay Care Trust heard recently they should share a 'collective shame' for not reducing the number of teenage pregnancies.

Debbie Stark, Torbay's director of public health, stressed the Bay had made a 'huge investment' in sexual health services over the last two years.

In a statement she said: "While we of course want to see these figures reducing, it is vital that we do not simply apologise for the rise in conceptions and instead enable debate and discussion about sexual health to continue under the radar.

"These figures are extremely important to us because they represent young people whose lives have been irreversibly changed by abortion or giving birth."

Earlier this month, Dr Carol Tozer, Torbay Council's people commissioner, said it was unacceptable the Bay was seeing a rising number of under-18s becoming pregnant each year while figures elsewhere in the country are going down.

Following the release of the latest figures, she said: "We acknowledge that Torbay's performance around teenage conception is not good enough.

"Over the last 15 months we have refocused and galvanised our partnership work to reduce teenage conceptions.

"There is no single way to reduce teenage conceptions."

The next highest rate increase was 22 per cent in the London borough of Bromley, followed by Manchester, which saw an increase of 13.8 per cent in its teen pregnancy rate between 1998 and 2008.

Over the same period, Devon also went against the trend in decline and saw the rate increase slightly by 1.4 per cent from 32.9 to 33.4 pregnancies for every 1,000 girls.

The county rate also rose year-on-year from 30.1 in 2006, to 32.6 in 2007, and 33.4 in 2008.

Nationally, the pregnancy rate among girls under 18 has fallen.

Lib Dem MP for Torbay Adrian Sanders said: "The agencies in Torbay are doing the best they can coping with the symptoms of a bigger problem, which is about the aspirations of young people to want to go into further and higher education and delay pregnancy.

"And the reason why there's no aspiration in Torbay is directly related to our poor labour market and the prospects on offer to school leavers."

An economy with prospects would see a drop in the teenage pregnancy rate, he said.

He also wanted more initiatives targeted at teenage boys, as well as young women.

The spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said the Government was aware Torbay was 'committed to taking positive action'.

Dr Virginia Pearson, director of public health at NHS Devon, said: "Devon has very low rates of teenage pregnancy, well below both the South West and national averages.

"We are renewing our drive to reduce our rates even further, with strong messages to young people about the benefits of delaying early sex, first class relationships and sex education, and better access to professional advice about contraception."

Director of public heath, Debbie Stark, talks in depth about the issue of teenage sexual health — Page 9