Education written question – answered at on 16 March 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures he has undertaken to reduce jargon and promote plain English in departmental communications.
We know that communicating clearly is essential to good government. We have always worked hard to try to remove jargon and we continue to make sure that staff at all levels treat this as an important issue. Consequently we provide regular training.
For example, to promote plain English in departmental communications, we have produced a "Style Guide"-an internal tool containing advice on using plain English, writing for the web and A-Z of house style. We also regularly run writing workshops for our staff that focus on writing in plain English, making sure communications are tailored to the audience and are written in an appropriate tone of voice. This is an ongoing programme of work.
Our internal communications to staff are jargon-free, to help promote good practice. We have also featured a series of articles in our staff magazine on the importance of good writing skills and some tips on how to keep communications free from jargon and written in plain English. Each item of correspondence from young people 18 or under receives a reply from a Minister and we ensure that each reply is suitably tailored to suit the recipient's understanding.
To support the Department's work on reducing bureaucracy, we are also developing a programme to improve the quality, format, and clarity of our communications to schools and other frontline groups. This includes improvements to statutory guidance, consultations, and online content. We also regularly test the content and tone of communications with groups of frontline staff before they are issued, so that we know that they make sense to heads, teachers and others.
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