This is a copy of my weekly blog which I write for work and is published on the council's intranet.  The views I express in this log are my own, professional, views as the Head of Communications but do not necessarily reflect those of the authority itself.

I’m making a new years resolution today.

There’s going to be no more ‘overarching strategic governance’ in my life.

No more ‘holistic collaboration frameworks’.

And an end to ‘annual letter box contact’.

I’ll send a letter instead.

I say this because my team and I have set ourselves the task this year of trying to rid the council of gobbledegook and ridiculously complicated language.

People, it’s time to think, speak and use plain English in our communications, whether that’s something we’re publishing or a report you are writing.

Last year, a colleague and I were called to the corporate and central scrutiny board to be told by the assembled councillors that there were becoming increasingly confused by some of the reports they were being asked to read.

They said that if they couldn’t clearly understand the content of the report how could they be expected to make an informed decision on it?

Well, the answer is: ‘you can’t’.  More than likely anyway.

That’s why this year my team and I are going to have a big push on using plain English and we want to encourage you and all of our colleagues to do the same.

But, we’re not expecting you to do that unsupported.

We’ve developed a plain English workshop to help you improve your skills, better understand why some people get confused about the language we use and have a chuckle at some of the most impregnable ‘bad’ English we could find.

Sorry, I mean the ‘worst examples of …’

There’ll be more about our plain English offerings on the intranet, in Staffnews and via In Brief over the coming weeks and months.

Oh, and if you fancy an hour away from your desk, then feel free to come along to the next corporate and central scrutiny board on February 1st.

I’ll be there to give an update to councillors on how our plain English plans are progressing.  If, during my ‘appearance’ you hear me use an acronym or abbreviation, or a word that doesn’t make sense, feel free to lob rotten fruit.

Just make sure any object avoids the chair please.  Councillor Grahame likes her hair in its current style thanks.

PS: If you’ve spotted or know of any ‘non-plain English’ clangers, my team and I would love to get our hands on them!  Send them via email please!

In ‘other news’, there’s a birthday I need to highlight.

Your friend (and mine [ish]), the Freedom of Information Act became law on January 1st 2005.  Over the last five years the number of requests for information has steadily risen, and even in the gap between Christmas and New Year, our fantastic FOI operatives in the council were beavering away to find the latest stats and facts that the ladies and gentlemen of Her Majesty’s press were demanding.

I have made my views on the FOIA perfectly clear in this Log – while I realise it’s a fantastic tool for journalists to use, I do still worry that the system can be ‘abused’ and sometimes we get asked ridiculous questions.

On the plus side, look at the facts that ‘emerged’ when the Daily Telegraph started digging about MPs expenses, but on the negative, does it really matter where Leeds City Council buys its Christmas puddings from?  (Yes, we’ve been asked to supply that information).

Five years on then, has the act made a difference?

I think it has, and in a good way too.  It has fostered a new era of openness (even within the council I think) although I suspect the cost of meeting our obligations of the act have risen dramatically in the last five years.

That’s why I worry about it being value for money for the tax payer as there’s clearly a cost to all this openness.

There are a few more views aired in an article in the Media Guardian, which you can read here.  If you’ve got any comments or thoughts about the Freedom of Information Act, I’d love to hear them.  Please send them to me by email and I’ll mention them here.

Finally, as we begin a new year, I wanted to wish you all the best for it.

2010 is likely to be a tough year for all of us, as we have to do more with less and keep up with the expectations and demands of the people of Leeds.

If my team and I can help in anyway, please get in touch.