News http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news.html Sun, 02 Aug 2015 11:18:18 +0100 Joomla! - Open Source Content Management en-gb Last call for awards entries http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1114-last-call-for-awards-entries.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1114-last-call-for-awards-entries.html

If you are planning on submitting a nomination for our plain English awards for 2014, the closing date is 31 October 2014. You can see more details about submitting an award on the entry details page of this site.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Thu, 23 Oct 2014 08:46:49 +0100
Government regrets NHS gobbledygook http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1113-government-regrets-nhs-gobbledygook.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1113-government-regrets-nhs-gobbledygook.html

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was on the defensive this week as 400,000 NHS staff went on their first strike in 30 years.

And it turns out that the Government’s biggest regret is the 'unintelligible gobbledygook' in NHS reforms overseen by Andrew Lansley MP.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:49:29 +0100
Boris talks sense shock? http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1112-boris-talks-sense-shock.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1112-boris-talks-sense-shock.html

In an unlikely move, Boris Johnson has admitted that he and Westminster in general are full of empty waffle and jargon. To listen to him speak uncharacteristically clearly on the subject, watch this interview on Newsnight with Evan Davis on Newsnight.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Thu, 09 Oct 2014 08:54:14 +0100
How the campaign began http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1111-how-the-campaign-began.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1111-how-the-campaign-began.html

In 1971 a small group of activists including Chrissie Maher created the UK’s first ‘community’ newspaper called the ‘Tuebrook Bugle’. This was a newspaper that was written and owned by the people of the Tuebrook neighbourhood in the city of Liverpool. Having their own newspaper meant that they could write articles demanding that organisations start using plain English. And through the newspaper, they were able to pass on valuable information, written in easily understood language, to the rest of the people in their neighbourhood. The success of this project led to the creation of over 50 other community newspapers which fulfilled a similar role.

Follow this link to see rare archive footage from the early days of the Tuebrook Bugle (Chrissie interviewed at home by Arthur Dooley, 1971).

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Thu, 02 Oct 2014 13:50:57 +0100
Jobs jargon buster http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1110-jobs-jargon-buster.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1110-jobs-jargon-buster.html

Plain English Campaign and City & Guilds have teamed up in a fight against ‘qualification confusion’.

According to a City & Guilds survey, almost half of London bosses ignore CVs that contain jargon or unfamiliar qualifications.

So, City & Guilds have responded by producing a new vocational curriculum and qualification, TechBac®, aimed at 14- to 19-year-olds. We’ve also worked with City & Guilds in launching a ‘jargon buster’ to help employers with educational jargon and acronyms.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Thu, 02 Oct 2014 10:12:31 +0100
Crapple http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1109-crapple.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1109-crapple.html

Apple have just launched their ‘Apple Watch’ to much worldwide interest, and it’s a typically sleek product from a great, innovative company. Though Apple’s Senior Vice President of Design, Jony Ive, has been a little too creative when describing their new device.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Thu, 02 Oct 2014 10:01:20 +0100
More government gobbledygook http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1108-more-government-gobbledygook.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1108-more-government-gobbledygook.html

There have recently been plenty of calls for government and council documents to be rewritten in plain English – and talks over the Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment Bill have led to yet another.

The discussions have been spoiled for anyone other than those at the very top – it’s hard to imagine anyone else having a clue what ‘top-down capacity building’, ‘community anchor organisations’ or ‘third sector interfaces’ are.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Thu, 02 Oct 2014 09:49:52 +0100
Dodgy developments http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1107-dodgy-developments.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1107-dodgy-developments.html

Oxford City Council are under fire for trying to sneak through a hugely revamped land-development project under a conveniently confusing cloud of gobbledygook.

The residents of Wolvercote are understandably far from happy about the information available to them on a matter that could massively change their local environment and quality of life.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Wed, 24 Sep 2014 07:58:12 +0100
Retire the jargon http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1106-retire-the-jargon.html http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/1106-retire-the-jargon.html

The financial sector has taken a bit of a hit recently, with the fallout from the banking crisis and mis-sold PPIs severely damaging its reputation.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), brought in to keep an eye on the use of jargon, over-complexity and misdirection in the industry, has overseen something of an improvement, and positive changes have been made.

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barry.soames@plainenglish.co.uk (Super User) News Thu, 04 Sep 2014 08:05:06 +0100
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