Invitation to 'gobbledygook' councillor
Local government is a small family and it would be wrong of me to poke fun at or criticise another council. But, I couldn't help have a giggle at the story below which a former colleague of mine from the BBC spotted running on the wires tonight.
It's all the more interesting for me because my council is trying to get rid of gobbledygook and our efforts to do so have been highlighted on the BBC's One Show programme.
Here's the story:
A Nottinghamshire council chief has been accused of talking "gobbledygook" after imposing new rules on language banning references to everyday words and phrases, it has been revealed.
Nottinghamshire County Council leader Councillor Kay Cutts banned the phrase "Greater Nottingham" and insisted the phrase "Core City Area" should be used instead.
Her decision emerged through minutes of a private meeting of a new board that covers the area, which includes Nottingham city and several outlying districts looked after by the county.
Previously an informal partnership was in place between the county and city councils but a formal Core City Board was created, holding its first meeting on June 7.
Minutes from that meeting show the leader "banned" use of the term Greater Nottingham. The phrase "core city area" will now be used, council bosses said on Wednesday. Under the heading "language", the minutes from the meeting say: "the leader has banned using the terms 'Greater Nottingham' and 'conurbation'."
But Labour councillor and opposition leader Alan Rhodes branded the move "bureaucratic nonsense" and said the phrase was "gobbledygook".
He said: "This suggests a rather dictatorial stance from the leader of the council. It's just gobbledygook, it doesn't mean anything to anybody. It doesn't give you any sense of place or identity to call it a Core City Area. It's bureaucratic nonsense, it's just local government speak. People will still call it Greater Nottingham, they know what that means.
"It's the kind of jargon that excludes ordinary people from discussions. It makes it exclusive to people who understand what the core city area is and does. It doesn't open itself up to wider discussion. It smacks of inward looking local government."
But Cllr Cutts said: "Relationships between the city and county have never been stronger. On June 7, the first meeting of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Joint Leadership Board met for the first time. The city and surrounding areas are now represented by the Core City Board. In order to ensure we remain consistent, the authority will now use the term core city area."
Well Councillor Cutts - for a small fee I'd be delighted to come along and give you some plain English advice. Call me!
