Teenage Pregnancies Have Hit a Record Low

Office for National Statistics data shows that the number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level since 1969 when records began.

The data shows that the under 18 conception rate is now 24.5 per thousand women compared with 27.9 per thousand the year before.

This is a drop of 13% on the previous year. Pregnancies in under-16s also fell.

At the same time the conception rate among women over 35 has been rising.

Charities Warn That Homelessness Is More Widespread Than Official Figures Show

Rising numbers of people are at risk of homelessness in England, but official data does not show this, according to a study.

Research by charities Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggested "informal" methods used by councils to tackle the problem had masked a 9% rise in cases in 2013-14 - to 280,000 cases.

Official statistics put the number of "accepted homeless" cases at about 52,000 last year, down 3% from 2012-13.

The government claims that the charities' figures were "misleading".

The annual independent study - which drew on a survey of England's 326 councils in 2014 - said the rise in the number of people facing homelessness was in part the result of benefit cuts and sanctions.

It also blamed a "woeful lack of affordable housing" which meant growing numbers of people were having to live away from their area.

Authors said nearly two-thirds of councils thought "headline" homelessness figures no longer reflected local trends because authorities were increasingly reliant on "informal" approaches to homelessness which are recorded separately.

The study combined the official "homelessness acceptances" figure from last year (52,270) with the number of homelessness "prevention and relief" cases (227,800) - where councils had taken steps to tackle the problem.

You can read more about this story on the BBC News website here.

More Children Go Missing From Foster Carers

Ofsted statistics show that there was a large increase in numbers of children going missing from foster care.

Children went missing from foster care on 13,305 occasions in 2013-14 - a 36% rise on the previous year.
Nearly six out of 10 missing cases were from independent fostering agencies, rather than a local authority, which have just under a third of placements.

According to the Ofsted statistics, during the year 2013-14, 4,245 children and young people were reported to have gone missing from foster care - 900 more than in the previous year.

Contact with family or friends was the reason given in nearly half (6,596) the cases. And most of them went missing for less than a day.

However, 528 of these children who did go missing were deemed to be at risk of sexual exploitation, and 431 of the cases were said to be linked to substance misuse.

There was also a big increase last year in foster placements breaking down - up 21% on the previous year to 5,240. Although there has been a change in the way these are counted.

Youth Justice Statistics Released For 2011/12

Youth Justice statistics for 2011 - 2012 have now been released by the Youth Justice Board. They show that the number of children entering the criminal justice system for the first time is falling but that there has been a 17 per cent rise in the number of times restraint was used against children aged 10 to 17 in custody in England and Wales.

The report is available to download here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/youth-justice/yjb-stats-2011-12.pdf