31 January 2003
Perhaps you've wondered what it means for the government to 'park the concept of using existing financial interfaces in the delivery of a new conceptual regulatory structure'?
Well, after receiving a letter from a central government department that contained 27 acronyms in four paragraphs, Jim Keight, the pioneering leader of Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, decided that enough was enough. He has pledged to cut all 'acronyms, jargon and gobbledegook' from the authority's literature.
Keight told Public Finance: 'It works at the expense of councillors and officers, but particularly voters and those members of the public that want to engage in the democratic process by, for example, attending meetings.'
Pointing an accusatory finger at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, he added: 'Although councils are culprits too, some government officials seem purposely to use jargon to confuse us and withhold information. They should be engaging people in politics, not putting them off by using gobbledegook.'
PFjan2003
