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New dwellings on previously residential land as a proportion of all new dwellings, by GOR
	North East	North West	Yorkshire and Humber	East Midlands	West Midlands	East of England	London	South East	South West	England
1986	20	6	10	25	35	37	27	32	24	26
1987	25	20	16	20	21	25	28	24	19	22
1988	13	10	15	15	15	20	22	28	19	19
1989	6	10	13	14	12	22	25	27	18	18
1990	7	11	15	15	15	25	29	30	21	20
1991	5	10	13	11	11	18	22	24	16	16
1992	6	8	16	13	11	20	12	24	19	16
1993	4	7	12	10	10	16	10	19	15	12
1994	9	6	10	7	8	15	10	16	11	11
1995	10	7	9	10	11	15	9	17	14	12
1996	11	8	10	8	9	13	10	16	15	11
1997	6	7	7	8	11	13	13	16	13	11
1998	3	7	11	8	10	14	13	17	14	12
1999	4	9	9	8	9	17	12	17	15	12
2000	6	13	10	8	11	16	17	19	18	14
2001	6	9	12	10	11	17	17	21	17	14
2002	6	9	12	10	13	15	17	22	18	15
2003	4	9	15	11	14	14	16	22	20	15
2004	10	10	14	9	12	16	13	26	18	15
Source: Land Use Change in England: Residential development to 2005 (LUCS-21)

Building Regulations

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what inspection is made of enforcement of building regulation by private sector providers. [75667]

Angela E. Smith: Private sector approved inspectors do not have enforcement powers for breaches of the Building Regulations. No formal inspection is made of the work of either the public or private sector as, under the Building Act 1984, building control is a fully devolved service. However, my officials meet with representatives of both sectors to discuss operational and delivery issues, and have helped to develop
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Performance Indicators and a revised Performance Standards Handbook, both due to be published soon.

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment her Department has made of the extent to which private sector providers are used by local authorities to enforce building regulations. [76938]

Angela E. Smith: We have made no such assessment. The statutory function of enforcing the building regulations rests with local authorities. Local authorities may engage private sector professional assistance to help them discharge their day-to-day building control responsibilities, e.g. assisting with plan checking.

Bullying

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of bullying were made in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2005-06; and how many cases were upheld. [78336]

Angela E. Smith: Staff are encouraged to seek an informal resolution of all matters in dispute with the individual and their line manager. Where it is not possible to resolve informally, complaints of bullying are dealt with under the Department’s complaints and grievances procedures. Information on the number of cases dealt with is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Castle Point Borough Council

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment she has made of the performance of Castle Point borough council; what steps she is taking to improve the performance of the council; and if she will make a statement. [78176]

Angela E. Smith: A lead official from the Department for Communities and Local Government is working with Castle Point borough council following the council’s assessment as ‘poor’ under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment in June 2004. The lead official advises Ministers regularly on the capability and capacity of the council and following significant improvements over the last year, particularly in the strength of officer and political management, we have recently agreed that formal monitoring meetings will be held on a two monthly rather than a monthly basis.

In December last year the Audit Commission reported that the council were making ‘good progress’.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department organises (a) adult learning courses and
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(b) occupational and professional development courses for its staff. [78322]

Angela E. Smith: Skills for Life support is offered to new entrants and is also highlighted to managers, as part of the induction process. The Department for Communities and Local Government intranet has a Skills for Life page providing information and web links to a variety of resources.

English classes with Westminster Adult Education Service have been set up for Mitie catering staff.

All other learning and development is commissioned through the Department's Training Framework Agreement covering 18 different suppliers.

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