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Plain English Campaign - working for clearer communicationPO Box 3, New Mills, High Peak, Derbyshire, SK22 4QP

Phone: 01663 744409Fax: 01663 747038E-mail: info@plainenglish.co.uk Website: www.plainenglish.co.uk

Plain EnglishThe voice of Plain English Campaign Issue 78 Spring 2012

Peers propose a Plain English AwardAn unusually clear and easy-to-understand piece oflaw-making has been praised in the House of Lordsfor clarity.

The Policing Protocol Order 2011 came into force on16 January 2012.

I am sure that you are familiar with legislativedrafting, but we thought you might like to see someexamples of recent Acts:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/24/contents(Public Bodies Act 2011)http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/41/contents(Loans to Ireland Act 2010)http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/11/contents(Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Act 2010)

Time and the policy are always constraints fordrafters of legislation. But I hope you will see fromDrafting Guidance and recent legislation that we seeachieving clarity, within those constraints, as a centralaspect of drafting.

Given our shared interest in clear legislation, we lookforward to working with you.

Another step in the direction of plain English cameafter the Campaigns communications with therecently appointed First Parliamentary Counsel,Richard Heaton (pictured right), a supporter of clear

law. Below is an excerpt from a recent email to PECfrom Mr Heaton.

It isnt perfect there are a few journeys into jargonand a few unexplained words like attestation whichdont help, said Plain English Campaign (PEC)founder Chrissie Maher. However, someone hasmade an effort. This is much better than many ofthe documents which become law. On the last pageof the document there is a helpful explanation ofpolicing protocol. Government should sit up and payattention to this. When laws are made, the languageused needs to be easy to understand. Plain EnglishCampaign urges every Secretary of State to use plainEnglish when making laws.

During a debate in the House of Lords earlier in themonth, Baroness Browning called for the document tobe considered for a Plain English Award.

I mentioned that this Ofce has produced DraftingGuidance for drafters here. It is published onour website and I attach a link to it. You maynd Part 1, on clarity, particularly interesting.(http://www.cabinetofce.gov.uk/resource-library/drafting-guidance-ofce-parliamentary-counsel)

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Scotland pipes upfor plain languageOn Thursday 8 March 2012, Thornn Johnston, aPlain English Campaign trainer, attended a receptionat the Scottish Parliament. This is part of theshowcase for work by the Inclusive Communicationsteam in the Scottish Government.

The reception opened with an address by MichaelMcMahon MSP. This was delivered to representativesfrom the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government,public services and charitable organisations keen toprovide clearer public communications.

At the annual Plain English Awards in 2011,Chrissie Maher, founder of Plain English Campaignacknowledged the efforts of the Scottish Governmentwith a Pat on the Back award.

This award recognised their independently writtenInclusive Communications Guide, and the ScottishGovernments launch of their Write Well campaign.

Their initiative encourages employees throughoutScottish Government ofces to use plain English inpublic communications.

With over a million people in Scotland believed to

have some form of communication support needs,plain language is essential for them to be able toaccess their rights, and for their well-being.

Sir Peter Housden, Scottish Government PermanentSecretary, said We are absolutely delighted by therecognition from the Plain English Campaign Awardsfor the quality of our written material. High-qualitywriting is central to the effectiveness of our workacross the Scottish Government and the award istestament to colleagues throughout the organisationwho strive for continuous improvement.

Save words, save money, save council servicesCommunications from housing departments or adultand social care teams can account for much of thepublic contact within council services. Budget cutshave reduced resources and are challenging localgovernment ofces in many ways.

Plain English Campaign has over 30 years ofexperience in public communications. We have proofthat plain English training and communications give

a visible and immediate return with recent usersconrming that they can save resources at twice theinitial spend.

Budget restrictions can affect the use of external

services, or memberships for plain English services.

responds practically to directives for efciencysavings;

can be shared by several departmental budgets;

satises commitments for continual professionaldevelopment, and other staff training;

addresses legislative needs for accessibility andequality;

places the expertise in-house for future

development; and

delivers the crucial elements of an organisations

clear communications policy.

Latest news of councils ongoing commitment toplain English training comes from the communicationteams at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council andBirmingham City Council.

Councillor Darren Cooper, Leader of SandwellCouncil says, I believe this to be a very important

issue and in the longer term will save the Councilmoney.

A Plain English Campaign training course can be acost-effective solution that:

Thornn Johnston, one of our Plain Englishtrainers, and a Glaswegian, who has trained

hundreds of plain-speaking Scots.

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Plain English Campaign wants to lift the lid onfood labelling that can be dangerously confusing.The Campaign feels that regulatory bodies and

manufacturers in the UK have lost the plot when itcomes to food labelling. Tiny text with gures andwords from a science laboratory can drive customersaway from the supermarket shelves, instead ofincreasing sales and helping the customer.

A typical pot of cottage cheese can bombard shopperswith information that can be unclear and unhelpful inmaking healthy choices. Foodstuff measurementsalone come in all forms and combinations -percentages, fractions, kcals, kJs and gs, and dontforget your GDAs and RDAs.

As well as the numbers and calculations, theshopper has to deal with scientic terms and industryabbreviations that could add to your weight, as well asyour frustration.

For example, shoppers hoping to reduce their sugarintake, will need to look for the right type of sugar, andall its various forms. Just because the ingredientsdont list the word sugar it doesnt mean to say therewont be sugar somewhere in there. Glucose, fructose,syrups and concentrates are all sugars. And these

might be noted under the nutrition information ratherthan in the list of ingredients.

Food labelling failing healthy eatingGive us plain English information in food labelling.Its all well intentioned and clever stuff, but howmany customers really understand the information

plastered over these packs and pots?

Apart from needing a magnifying glass to read itin the rst place, shoppers are faced with doingcalculations in the supermarket aisles. I would feelmuch happier with my cottage cheese if I could nda mention of tablespoons and teaspoons, somethingwere all used to.

My worst nightmare is when these measurementsare given per portion. Is that my child-size portion orsome muscle-bound builders serving?

Ill take responsibility for eating healthily, but the foodmanufacturers need to give us information we candigest without getting heartburn!

The Campaign echoes the sentiments of the US Foodand Drugs Administration (FDA) who have recentlyissued Warning Letters to food manufacturers toreview their current labelling.

Chrissie Maher, founder of Plain English Campaign,has been ghting for clear public information for over40 years and challenges the supermarket giants tolead the way.

Here are some common foodlabelling terms that can be confusing.

Use byYou will see use by dates on food that goes offquickly, such as sh, meat products and ready-prepared salads.Dont use any food or drink after the use by dateon the label, even if it looks and smells ne.Best beforeBest before dates appear on a wide range of

frozen, dried, tinned and other foods.Except in the case of eggs, best before dates areabout quality, not safety. When the date is passed,it doesnt mean that the food will be harmful, but itmight begin to lose its avour and texture.

Display until and sell by

Date marks such as display untilor sell by oftenappear near or next to the best before or use bydate. These are instructions for shop staff, not forshoppers.

The important dates for you to look for are the useby and best before dates.

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Plain English Campaigns roots were showing asthe Campaign headed for the scouse bowl for ourannual awards!

It was London two years ago. Then Manchester in2010. And in 2011, it was the turn of the birthplaceof Plain English Campaign Liverpool as theCampaign hit the road for the annual awardsceremony at The Cavern Club, birthplace of TheBeatles.

Now thats all very well for the Maher family, andsupporters of the Campaign from the North Westbut Im denitely playing away. I love Liverpool;it has a fantastic atmosphere all of its own, but

I dont understand it. Its a city by the sea for astart. Those of us who hail from rural Derbyshirestruggle with this. You either have a city, or theseaside. You know, donkeys and ice creams andall that good stuff. Not both. In Liverpool hugeAmerican skyscrapers rear up out of the sea withweird seabirds clinging to them. And despiteits reputation for post-industrial decline andunemployment, the city gave us genuine Britishrock n roll, some of the best modern poetry andPlain English. And Ive not even talking about thefootball. Or the Grand National.

The news that I was playing away came as a bitof a surprise to Mrs. Jenner, who for the rst timewould accompany me to the awards. I hoped itwould explode the myth she clearly believed upto this point that it was all hospitality and rubbingshoulders with the award winners.

But rst, to work. I present the breakfast showon Ashbourne Radio, a commercial station in theDerbyshire Dales. I ew out of the studio trailingbags, phones and shirt tails at just after 10am andheaded for the Peugeot that time forgot. ThenLiverpool.

The customary stooge around an unknown citywithout satnav or safety net usually ends in thesame way and sure enough we lost our way. Wethen had one of those frank exchanges of viewsthat sometimes take place between those who havebeen married for a while.

We eventually ended up in the right car park to

make our way to our hotel. The Mersey lookedraw and slate grey as we trudged along on a coldDecember afternoon.

Spirits were soon lifted though by a shower and acoffee in our extremely comfortable hotel room in theComfort Hotel. Youve got to admire the logic in thebranding.

Preparing to present the Plain English Campaign

Awards is an interesting experience. Im normallywell briefed by Marie in the Plain English Campaignpress ofce and this was no exception. But what Ind Im usually looking for are opportunities for quickone-liners, odd quips and comments that might raisea chuckle amongst the award winners. It seemsto me the trick is to try to strike a balance betweencongratulating the award winners who are oftenorganisations dealing with matters of life and deathand stirring these in an at appropriate points.It would be crass in the extreme, for example, to tryand drop in a witty aside while presenting the Plain

English Award to the Prostate Cancer Charity, forexample. Im quite happy to leave the shock jockstuff to Ricky Gervais. But at the same time youcant blame me for congratulating Russell Hobbswhose vacuum cleaner instructions cleaned up atthe awards. Oh, all right - maybe you can. Pleaseput the gun down and well talk about this sensibly.

Steve Jenner, Master of Ceremonies at the 2011Awards

For more of Steves story see our websitewww.plainenglish.co.uk

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!by Steve Jenner

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Clear skies ahead?Plain English weather reportsRock Radios ve-word weather report (its raining,dont even bother) achieved a Plain English award in2010 for its clear and straightforward weather news.

In 2011, the Met Ofce was at the other end ofthe scale, for the second time since 2008, withanother Golden Bull. Their use of probabilities ofprecipitation caused a downpour of differing opinionsfrom the public. You can judge the clarity of theinformation for yourself from this graph.

Some typical weatherese that Paul has collected:

Overnights tonight A rash of beefy showers The winds fall light Seeing showers though these should ease from the north-west

The across in across northwest UK is equallynon-committal. Its like the forecasters favouritetowards.

Saturdays forecast went on: falling as snow overthe high ground but to lower levels of Scotland later

and you wonder what this but to lower levels ofScotland means and just when later is going to be.

Back in March 2011, the same website said it wouldbe generally cloudy, which sounds OK, but doesgenerally mean for most of the time or in mostplaces and, anyway, in what places?

These are some mild examples, and you shouldhear how mangled the message gets once it passesthrough the BBCs hands.

Its not that the forecasters use meteorologicaljargon; rather, they speak and write a sort of spivvybookmakers slang which isnt just grammaticallylumpy but also obscures the facts and avoidscommitment.

Next time you hear, watch or read a forecast,ask yourself: Did I really understand that and do Iactually know what its going to do here tomorrow?

Paul Danon nominated the Met Ofce for theirdubious honour in 2011, after spending time

researching the language of weather reports andreporters.

Below is Pauls acceptance speech for the GoldenBull award, in the absence of any representativefrom the Met Ofce.

His blog and website will give a fuller insight to thegobbledygook of weather.http://weatherforecasts.blog.com

The Met Ofce has eighteen hundred staff and

taxpayers spend four hundred and forty thousandpounds on it every day.

We all know about its faulty predictions of mildwinters and barbecue-summers, but I think theforecasters do themselves no favours either by thelanguage they use.

On Saturday, the Met Ofce website forecastblustery showers across northwest UK andshowers is a favourite weather-word meaningsomething-or-other coming down from the sky,

though were not really sure when or where or howheavy or for how long.

Its mainly settled Excess surface water Temperatures really struggling Clearing showers in the far east Squally showers Wintry showers Summer showers ChangeableWeather continues to be a favourite subject with theGolden Bull nominations, but with the Met Ofce nowworking towards clearer skies, it seems the BBCweather presenters are getting lost in the mists oftheir creative phrases, such as droughted parts,nominated for the 2012 awards by frustrated viewerOliver Williams.

Send us your favourite weather words for our awardnominations by email to info@plainenglish.co.uk, or

on our online form at http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/entry-details-awards.html

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The Civil Service and public administration generallyhave made great strides in the use of plain Englishin recent years. Jargon and ofcialese, while farfrom extinct, are dying out. I would like to see thembanished forever. Plain English must be the aim of allwho work in government.

Baroness Thatcher, former Prime Minister

We need to ensure that ofcial documents - fromSocial Security forms to White Papers - are usefuland comprehensible. The Plain English Campaign

has a splendid track record in nudging us alltowards making this happen.Sir John Major, former Prime Minister

Human relationships depend on communication.Bad writing is a barrier to communication. When alarge organisation such as the Government triesto communicate with the man and woman in thestreet the scope for misunderstanding is enormous.Too often clarity and simplicity are overwhelmedby pompous words, long sentences and endlessparagraphs.

If we all wrote in plain English, how much easier -and efcient - life would be. It is no exaggerationto describe plain English as a fundamental tool ofgood Government.

Some people think that owery language andcomplicated writing is a sign of intellectualstrength. They are wrong. Some of our greatestcommunicators were - and are - passionatebelievers in the simplicity of the written word. AsWinston Churchill described a particularly tortured

piece of ofcialese: This is the sort of English upwith which I will not put.

The Plain English Campaign has played a majorrole in improving the way public bodies communicatewith citizens. However, there is still plenty of roomfor improvement - not least from politicians - so thecampaigns work is far from over.Tony Blair MP, former Prime Minister

Quotations forthis quarterAll politicians are guilty of slipping into jargon - and

all of us deserve scrutiny from the Plain EnglishCampaign. Complicated sets of initials, ofcialjargon, bureaucracies that over-complicate things toboost their own self-importance - all of these thingshelp to build barriers between government andpeople.

When important information is being providedby ofcials or government departments, that isespecially serious. So I congratulate the Campaignon all it has achieved to date, and wish it well.David Cameron MP, Prime Minister

Plain EnglishChampions 2012Plain English Campaign are making this year aHealthy, happy 2012 for public communicationsin recognition of the coming Olympics.

We want nominations for the most proactivesupporters of plain English communicationsin your organisation to be recognised as ourPlain English Champion of 2012. The top three

candidates will be selected by Chrissie Maher,the founder of Plain English Campaign. Theywill receive a personal award and take part in avideo demonstrating how using plain English hasbeneted their organization and their audiences.

The video will be uploaded to our website, anddistributed to our media contacts. The winnerswill also be invited to take part in our annualawards in December.Just send us an email before Friday 29 June2012. See our website for full details for

nominations. www.plainenglish.co.uk

DishingWhen the horse throws one or both front feet outsideways with each stride.

Daisy cuttingNot to be confused with dishing the horse icks itstoe upwards when in trot.

PlaitingWhen the horses feet cross over in front when theyland on the ground.

Jargon jungleTo the uninitiated, the language used in someindustries and professions can be impenetrable andmay appear deliberately exclusive. This issue looksat the language of the horseworld where they say

much more than neigh!

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For over 30 years Plain English Campaign hasbeen a leading inuence in promoting the use of

plain English in public information. Our expertisehas been recognised as best practice in theUK Parliament, government ofces and privatebusinesses all over the world.Readers view our accreditations as:

After many years success with the globallyrecognised Crystal Marks for printed leaets,documents and online information, we haveaccreditations suitable for lengthier material.For websites, where information is frequentlyupdated, we provide a yearly review andrecommendations to improve the useability andaccessibility of your website content. This can resultin achieving our Internet Crystal Mark.

When regular printed or online publications like

newsletters or magazines contain mixed sources of

The stamp of clarity

In recent years, we have been asked by writers andpublishers to provide a stamp of approval for largerpublications of non-ction. This newly-launchedaccreditation is our Plain English Book Mark. Thisallows the book to be reviewed for its use of clearlanguage that is appropriate for the intendedreadership, without affecting the writing style.We are proud to have already accredited the rst ofa range of educational history books from Folens

Publishers, who act as the educational agent inIreland for Pearson, the global publishing house.Other books awaiting accreditation are in thepipeline from a variety of publishers on the subjectsof communication, business writing and nancialinformation.

content, we are able to accredit the clarity of theoverall layout and communication style with our

Approved by logo.

a universal standard of clarity and accessibility,that makes the information they receive easierto understand and deal with; anda sign of the organisations intent to provideinformation that is as clear and accurate aspossible.

Earlier this year, Malcolm Lewis, a Plain EnglishCampaign trainer, gave a light-hearted presentationon the benets of using plain English in themedical profession. The audience was orthodonticconsultants who work in the NHS.

Our plain English trainers are often asked to drawfrom their individual areas of expertise for speakeropportunities.

With NHS reforms making the public moreresponsible for decisions about their healthcare, itis essential that communications from all healthcareprofessionals are clear and easy to understand.

They should be free from jargon that can haveserious consequences when it is misunderstood.

If you would like to book a speaker for your event,contact us by email info@plainenglish.co.uk

Good health and clear healthcare information arematters close to Malcolms heart.The photo shows him reaching the end of

a recent charity half-marathon and in goodshape - apart from the wig!

Getting their teeth into plain English

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The nextissue of PlainEnglish will beavailable soon

If you have any questions about our range of courses, please phone us on 01663 744409 and ask

for Terri Schabel, our training administrator.

Training dates for 2012 (open courses)

Open courses

We hold these courses regularly at various

hotels around the country.

Plain English Diploma

This is a course that you take over a period ofa year.

Crystal Marknumbers climbing

More than 20,000 documents now carry ourCrystal Mark as a sign of clarity. It has becomermly established as the standard that allorganisations should aim for when they producepublic information.

If you have a document you would like us to

look at, please email info@plainenglish.co.uk,or phone Tony Maher on 01663 744409.

About our courses

We offer a range of training courses to teachyou how to write in plain English.

In-house courses

Our trainers will come to your organisationsofces where your staff can take the course.

Online courses

We offer some of our training, including ourbusiness-writing course, online.

Plain English coursesThistle Euston Hotel - London

Wednesday 16 MayThursday 21 JuneThursday 12 July

Thursday 13 SeptemberThursday 11 OctoberFriday 9 NovemberWednesday 5 December

Thistle Hotel - ManchesterThursday 7 June

Thursday 9 AugustThursday 18 OctoberThursday 6 December

Thistle Hotel - BirminghamThursday 13 September

Grammarcheck coursesThistle Euston, London

Wednesday 11 JulyWednesday 10 October

Writing for websitesThistle Euston, London

Tuesday 17 MayThursday 27 September

Advanced GrammarThistle Euston, LondonThursday 14 June

Thursday 25 October

Report writingThistle Euston, London

Thursday 20 September

Plain English and formsdesignThistle Euston, LondonThursday 4 October

Plain English for medicalwritersThistle Euston, London

Wednesday 7 November

This cost-effective mark of clarity is ndingincreased favour at a time of budget cuts, when

large scale communication campaigns or reviewsare being postponed. The Crystal Mark giveshigh-prole accreditation of individual documents

that demand clear public information.