Local Authorities want to abolish jargon in favour of plain English
March 18th, 2009 by GilesCouncils were told today to cut out 200 jargon words such as “revenue stream”, “stakeholder” and “incentivising” so that ordinary people can understand them. They have compiled a list of words and phrases that councils should eliminate from their vocabulary.
Workers should not “facilitate” they should “help” and instead of “fast-tracking” something they should just “speed it up”
Certain words are so meaningless they can be discarded altogether according to the LGA. The culprits include; contestability, synergies and cascading.
Chairman of the Local Government Association, Councillor Margaret Eaton, said: “The public sector must not hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases. Why do we have to have ‘coterminous, stakeholder engagement’ when we could just ‘talk to people’ instead?
“Councils have a duty, not only to provide value for money to local people, but also to tell people what they get for the tax they pay. People would be furious if they have no idea of what services their cash is paying for and how they should get to use them.”
Unfortunately, the list shows that when local authorities talk of ‘meaningful consultation’, it does not meant consultation, but ‘talking to people’.