asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the announcement by the Minister for Public Health, Dawn Primarolo, on 6 February regarding additional funding for contraception services, whether a proportion of (a) the £14 million allocated to strategic health authorities for innovative service delivery in the area of contraceptive provision, and (b) the £12.8 million allocated to primary care trusts for improving access to contraceptive services, will be ring-fenced for improving the accessibility of contraceptives after termination of pregnancy, particularly in the light of their latest statistics showing that 32 per cent of women who had a termination in 2006 had previously undergone one or more abortions; and [HL2470]

What plans exist to monitor the way in which (a) strategic health authorities spend the £14 million allocated to them for innovative service delivery in the area of contraceptive provision; and (b) primary care trusts spend the £12.8 million allocated to them for improving access to contraceptive services and on services designed to reduce the number of repeat abortions among young women, including the provision of advice on contraception after termination; and [HL2471]

What will be the process for the national evaluation of strategic health authorities' ideas for improved contraceptive provision, which would attract some of the additional funding announced by the Minister for Public Health, Dawn Primarolo, on 6 February; and whether any weighting will be given to ideas designed specifically to reduce the number of repeat abortions through the provision of advice on contraception after termination to address the 32 per cent of terminations carried out in women who have previously undergone one or more abortions. [HL2472]

On 6 February my right honourable friend the Minister of State (Dawn Primarolo) announced £26.8 million funding to improve access to contraceptive services; £12.8 million of this funding will be allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) in their main allocations. It is for PCTs to determine how this funding is allocated to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations.

The remaining £14 million will be allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs). Service level agreements (SLAs) will be negotiated with SHAs to agree how the funding should be used. Monitoring arrangements will be agreed as part of the SLA.

Proposals for commissioning a national evaluation of any pilots of innovative models of service delivery are still being drawn up. We will welcome pilots that look at ways of improving the care pathway between abortion and contraceptive services to reduce the number of repeat abortions.

In addition to this we will be investing £500,000 to begin to develop a campaign, working with the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, to highlight contraceptive choices available to women.