Plea for plain English

A leading City Councillor has challenged Bristol City Council to ditch "local government gobbledygook" and embrace plain English.

Councillor Richard Eddy, leader of the City's Conservative Group, has made his plea in the wake of the Local Government Association's bid to banish one hundred words commonly used by the public sector but remain meaningless jargon to most people.

Listed among the most hated words are "coterminosity", "empowerment", "multidisciplinary", "place shaping" and "sustainable communities". (Full details can be found at www.lga.gov.uk.)

But, despite Bristol's Neighbourhood & Housing Services department winning a Crystal mark for clarity from the Plain English Campaign some years ago, Cllr Eddy believes the Labour-run Council still has a long way to go.

Cllr Eddy (Con, Bishopsworth) said: "Local Councils need to be able to explain things clearly so that people can easily take advantage of services and understand why key decisions are made.

"Why does Bristol City Council continue to talk of 'coterminous stakeholder engagement' when it could just say it is committed to listening to local people?

"I read in a recent report of 'maritime trolley populations' when Council officers were actually describing supermarket trolleys being dumped in local streams!

"If experienced Councillors have trouble understanding the bureaucratic lingo, what chance does the ordinary person have in their dealings with Council departments.

"Sadly, local government still seems wedded to befuddling people rather than communicating with them in a clear, concise and open fashion.

Cllr Eddy has written to Cllr Helen Holland, the Labour Leader of Council, urging her to adopt the LGA recommendations and reassert the Council's commitment to ban incomprehensible and impenetrable bureaucratic jargon.

Back to Local News Index 14 February 2008