Gobbledegook ban for councils
Councils have been banned from using incomprehensible jargon such as 'predictors of beaconicity' and 'rebaselining'.
New guidelines from the Local Government Association outlaw 100 words and phrases and says they should be replaced with plain English.
Other terms that may no longer be used include 'cascading', 'funding-streams' and 'cross-fertilisation', reports the Daily Telegraph.
Also banned are 'across-the-piece', 'gateway review', 'holistic government', 'early win' and 'functionality'.
The list was compiled by Richard Stokoe, head of news at the LGA, who admitted he was unsure what some of the terms actually meant.
He said: "I have no idea what 'predictors of beaconicity' means, even though it was the title of a 20-page report. Why bother using 'innovative capacity' or 'rebaselining' - it does not mean anything.
"'Community engagement' just means getting people involved and what kind of dialogue is there other than 'meaningful dialogue'?"
The Plain English Campaign welcomed the publication of the list and said it was important to encourage councils to be clearer.
Marie Clair, its spokesman, said: "This list is not saying people are not intelligent enough or able enough to understand. It is the context in which words are used that makes them gobbledegook."
-Nova
