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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 13 February 2009

Gobbledegook council-speak set for Golden Bull jargon award

PLAIN English campaigners have branded the reply to a simple request by an Islington pensioner for help during the recession as one of the worst cases of impenetrable council-speak.
John Worker asked the Islington Strategic Partnership – a £20million public and private sector quango – what assistance they will offer the borough’s older people.
But their reply – described in the Islington Tribune on January 23 as like something Sir Humphrey might say in the TV programme Yes Minister – was peppered with talk of “thematic partnerships”, “ISP resource” and “service delivery”.
Annette Hobart, the manager who responded, wrote: “There is one specific LAA indicator/priority around income maximisation for older people.” She signs off: “I hope this is not too jargony!”
So inaccessible is the language that now the Plain English Campaign has put it forward for its annual Golden Bull awards for jargon.
Mr Worker, 71, from King’s Cross, is a former British Library administrator and secretary of the Islington Pensioners Forum.
He said: “I asked a simple question and what I got back was convoluted nonsense that meant nothing.”
The Islington Strategic Partnership, headed by the council and including representatives of the emergency services, business and voluntary groups, aims to improve health, education and housing.
Marie Clair, spokeswoman for Plain English Campaign, said: “It is often the most vulnerable who have the greatest need for clear information.
“The maze of council departments churning out gobbledygook can help themselves by getting plain English training in place as part of standard employment training for all staff.”
A partnership and council spokesman said: “Our apologies to John. We didn’t mean to baffle him – or anyone else – with this gobbledegook and we will be giving him a plain English answer.”

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