Councils should use imperial measures

There is much debate about whether the Conservative pledge to hold an in/out referendum on the EU will win votes from UKIP, or whether UKIP supporters are more concerned with other issues such as immigration. However Lord Ashcroft's research last year suggested that UKIP's support base stemmed not from policy, but outlook. It found exasperation with the political and administrative class speaking in a different language to the rest of us. Too much jargon and not enough straight talking.

If a council says it is "engaging with communities" it is a pretty good sign that it isn't. Often Conservative councillors find their capacity to think eroded by all the bureaucrat-speak.  For example, take the word "investment" - as in "investing in children", "investing in libraries", "investing in parks", "investing in the community", "investing in people". What is meant is spending. Such spending might or might not be justified. By calling it "investment" users avoid making a rigorous judgment.

It is against this background that the newly elected UKIP councillors in East Sussex have challenged the use of metric measures. Good for them.

Reclaiming community

Mark Wallace, senior account manager at Portland Communications and author of the Crash Bang Wallace blog says the word "community" should be restored to its true meaning

As John Prescott demonstrates every day, muddled language is both a cause and a symptom of muddled thinking. Politics is at risk from this phenomenon perhaps more than most other areas of life.

Given the heady combination of 24-hour news, the army of professional offence-takers and the constant scrutiny of one’s opponents, it is no surprise that so much effort is put into polishing the appeal of political messages to wring every last drop of benefit from them.

We’re all acquainted with the kind of politics-speak gobbledegook that can result when this spin doctoring is taken too far. Worse, though, is the risk that words introduced as mere window-dressing can end up changing the actual terms of the debate at hand.

The most notable example of this is probably the use of the word “community”, which has now become almost ubiquitous. No matter what party a politician is from, no matter who or what they are talking about, they always seem to reach for that word.

The reason, of course, is that it sounds nice and cuddly. Naturally enough, we like the idea of communities of people who know and coexist with each other.

LGA updates jargon ban

The Local Government Association has produced an updated list with 250 words that it urges Councils not to use. I would have a few quibbles. It says they shouldn't be used "when providing information to the public." They probably shouldn't be used by staff, councillors, school governors, etc, either. Often jargon is detrimental to clear thinking as well as poor communication. Then there is the easy cheap shot that the LGA uses lots of the "banned" words itself if you seach its website.

Finally, there are one or two included on their list which I do think are useful - benchmarking is one I'm rather fond of. "Have we done any benchmarking on this?" is one of my catchphrases at Hammersmith Town Hall. There is something more rigorous about the phrase than saying: "Have we compared how we are doing on this compared with other councils?"

Anyway in general it is a noble cause and the LGA are to be commended for it.

New words on their banned list include:

• Trialogue 
• Wellderly 
• Goldfish bowl facilitated conversation
• Tonality 
• Webinar 
• Under-capacitated 
• Clienting 
• Disbenefits

Flintshire Council renames Spotted Dick

Flintshire Council canteen has renamed Spotted Dick "because of several immature comments by a few customers" into Spotted Richard. There is nothing new about the public sector being run according to the preferences of producers rather than consumers. But the casual contempt for this important example of British heritage is startling. Who do these people think they are?

If I was a Council Taxpayer in Fintshire (which is an Independent-led Council in Wales on the border with Cheshire) I would be asking how much subsidy the canteen gets and how many staff use it compared to those who buy their lunch elsewhere.

We have closed the one in Hammersmith Town Hall. It cost £291,775 to run in its last year but didn't come close to breaking even as it brought in just £78,127. Very few Town Hall staff used it because it simply couldn't compete with the glorious and varied cuisine available in the eateries King Street.

Councils act to save apostrophes

The Sunday Telegraph reports that several Councils are issuing guidelines to staff emphasising the importance of correct grammar in street signs and letters to residents. Birmingham City Council caused dismay by announcing it was giving up any use of the punctuation mark on street signs - so much for civic pride. But other Councils are at least making an effort. Salford has issued the folliowing advice to officers:"Do not assume that if you don't know whether to use an apostrophe, then most of your readers won't either. Many of your readers will notice, and they will infer that you did not learn to write correctly. If a reader notices that you have used incorrect grammar, you will instantly lose credibility."

John Ever, of St Phillip's Avenue, in Worcester Park, Surrey, wrote to the paper to say:

"Here in Liberal Democrat-controlled Sutton the council tries to please everyone. Of the four road signs for our road, two are with an apostrophe and two are without."

What does Mr Ever expect of a Council where the Executive Member for Resources, Cllr John Drage, presides over the loss of £1 million from £5.5 million of risky Icelandic bank deposits and says that he was clueless they had even been placed? Then doesn't even apologise - let alone resign.

Hart councillor's crusade against acronyms

Cllr Tim Davies, a Conservative member of Hart District Council, used a full Council meeting last week to demand that planning officers used plain English - including avoiding "peppering" with acronyms.

Cllr Davies then asked if any fellow councillor could tell him what CIRIA stood for. Or SUDS. Or BREEAM.

They could not. Cllr Davies added: “My point has been made – no-one actually knows the answer.”

Incidentally the answers are:

SUDS: Sustainable Drainage Systems;

BREEAM: Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method

CIRIA: The Construction Industry Research and Information Association

Don't rename schools "places for learning"

A very good Localis paper has been produced on the issue of the language that Councils use.

I particular enjoyed the contribution by Cllr David Lee, the Conservative leader of Wokingham Council including his reference to story from January that I had missed about a primary school run by Sheffield Council dropping the word school to call itself a "place of learning" instead in order to sound less institutional.

"Banning words is not generally a good idea; take for example our friends and defenders of all things good in Sheffield where Watercliffe Meadow Primary School banned the word “school” after governors decided that the traditional description sounded too “institutional”. I can suggest an old English word for this kind of nonsense but I think it might not be acceptable in a Localis Policy Platform. Although I am against banning words there are exceptions I would make to this general principal.

These may include “Ideas Stores”, usually known to us as “Libraries”. Or “Predictors of Beaconicity”, otherwise known as “A well performing authority”. Or what about “Community Engagement”, otherwise known as “Talking to your Residents”. I would like to politely suggest to people who undertake Community Engagement that they could get better engagement by talking English to them, they might then get the input they seek."

Why isn't "diversity" on banned jargon list?

Ed West, blogging for The Daily Telegraph, welcomes the Local Government Association's list of words it advises Councils to cease using. But he asks why "diversity" isn't on the banned list?

Quoting various Guardian recruitment ads, he then asks:

"I wonder how any of these local government officials would feel if they got on a plane, knowing that the pilot and flight safety technician had been chosen to 'reflect the community' or 'take account of equality and diversity.' "

LGA proposes 200 words Councils should banish

The Local Government Association has written to Councils proposing 200 words which they suggest should be banned. Where necessary they suggest an intelligible alternative.

Good for them. But the LGA have some way to go in leading by example, judging by their own website. I searched "place shaping" and got 302 hits. Stakeholder got 347. Third sector 412. Interface 126. Synergies a more modest 51 but as the LGA themselves ask: "Why use at all?"

Defend the apostrophe from municipal attack

Nick Seaton of the Campaign for Real Education says Councils removing apostrophes from road signs is an attack on the English language.

Last week's news that a second local authority, Wakefield, plans to join Birmingham in removing apostrophes from street signs is perhaps more ominous than it seems.

Unless such nonsense is stopped, it could become the norm.

Needless to say, it's a Liberal Democrat, Martin Mullaney,  who devised the policy in Birmingham.   Councillor Mullaney, who chairs the transportation scrutiny committee, argues that because some signs in Birmingham do not include the apostrophe, it makes sense to exclude them altogether, as a simple matter of policy.  Because it would be expensive to replace existing signs whose apostrophe is missing, he says the sensible course is to get rid of them all. He also suggests that because computerised databases and satellite navigation systems can't cope with apostrophes, human beings shouldn't bother with them either.

What tosh!  This is typical 'progressive' nonsense that should have been killed off as soon as it saw the light of day. As several commentators have pointed out, ignoring apostrophes sets a terrible example to teachers and young people:  that correct grammar and punctuation don't matter. And surely, inaccurate street signs are official advertisements announcing that, in their locality, standards and accuracy have no importance?