What have “coterminosity”, “lowlights” and “wicked issues” got in common? They are all on the 2010 banned words list issued by Britain’s Local Government Association (LGA).
The LGA, which describes itself as a voluntary lobbying organisation that acts as the voice of the local government sector, says its list consists of “words that shouldn’t be used by the public sector to talk to people”.
It includes some horrid pieces of verbiage. “Clienting”, “double devolution”, “key asks”, “wellderly” and “trialogue” are examples. There are also perfectly decent, clear words on the banned list, such as “governance”, “guidelines” and “robust”.
These latter words may be overused by local authorities, but they are not intrinsically bad. They do not deserve to be banned.
Blunt approach
Therein lies one weakness of the 250-item list of banned words. Banning words, rather than their misuse or overuse, is a very blunt approach. It includes good words and phrases as well as bad ones.
There is a more fundamental problem, of course. If somebody wants to use hackneyed phrases, sound-good claptrap and jargon to obscure meaning, then banning some words will not improve their prose. Those people will find other dead phrases. To paraphrase a US lobby group “cliches don’t cloud meaning, people do”.
The list is also too long. The intended audience will remember only a fraction of the words included.
Training, guidelines and quality control will do far more to improve writing quality. That said, anything that gives people a reason to stop and consider what words they use and how they use them is a good thing. It may make at least a small difference in the tide of awful prose that we encounter every day.
Impenetrable
It’s easy to agree with the LGA’s introduction to the list: “The public sector must not hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases. Why do we have to have a ‘webinar trialogue for the wellderly’ when the public sector could just ‘talk about caring for the elderly’ instead?”
In 2007 the LGA banned 100 words, including “predictors of beaconicity”, “preventative services” and the relatively inoffensive “priority”. This time it has gone further and banned “beacon” itself. Maybe this increase is a “bottom-up” “autonomous” “deep dive” into the “disbenefits” “across the piece” of the “delivery chain” of “downstream” “empowerment” “engaging users”.
Plain words do not always lead to clear communication, however. Here is the second paragraph of the LGA’s page about itself on its website: “We target our efforts on the issues that matter most to councils, working with and on behalf of our membership to deliver our shared vision of an independent and confident local government sector – where local priorities drive public service improvement in every city, town and village and every councillor acts as a champion for their ward and the people they represent.”
While we “cautiously welcome”the LGA’s banned word list the nugget above may be a “knowledge bite” too far.
Here is the full LGA list:
across the piece
actioned
advocate
agencies
ambassador
apportionment
area-based
area-focused
autonomous
baseline
beacon
benchmarking
best practice
blue sky thinking
bottom-up
brain dump
can-do culture
capabilities
capacity
capacity building
capturing
cascading
cashable
catalysts
cautiously welcome
centricity
challenge
champion
citizen empowerment
citizen touchpoints
client
clienting
cohesive communities
cohesiveness
collaboration
commissioning
community engagement
compact
compendium
comprehensive area assessment
conditionality
connectedness
consensual
contestability
contextual
core developments
core message
core principles
core value
coterminosity
coterminous
cross-cutting
cross-fertilisation
cross-sectoral
customer
customer insight
customer journey
deep dive
delivery chain
democratic legitimacy
democratic mandate
dialogue
direction of travel
disbenefits
distorts spending priorities
double devolution
downstream
early win
econometric
edge-fit
embedded
empowerment
enabler
engagement
engaging users
enhance
evidence base
exemplar
extensible
external challenge
externalities
face time
facilitate
fast-track
flex
flexibilities and freedoms
framework
fulcrum
functionality
funding streams
future of place
future proofing
gateway review
going forward
gold plating
goldfish bowl facilitated conversation
good practice
governance
guidelines
headroom for change
hereditament
holistic
holistic governance
horizon scanning
improvement levers
incentivising
income streams
indicators
informatics
initiative
innovative capacity
inspectorates
interactivity
interdepartmental
interdependencies
interface
iteration
joined up
key asks
knowledge bite
knowledge hub
learning outcome
level playing field
lever
leverage
lifetime neighbourhood
local area agreements
local strategic partnerships
localities
low-hanging fruit
lowlights
mainstreaming
management capacity
meaningful consultation
meaningful dialogue
meaningful reusable interactivity
mechanisms
menu of options
multi-area agreements
multi-agency
multi-disciplinary
municipalities
network model
normalising
outcomes
output
outsourced
overarching
paradigm
parameter
participatory
partnership working
partnerships
pathfinder
peer
performance network
place shaping
pooled budgets
pooled resources
pooled risk
populace
potentialities
practitioners
predictors of beaconicity
preventative services
prioritisation
priority
proactive
process driven
procure
procurement
promulgate
proportionality
protocol
provider vehicles
public sphere
pump priming
quantum
quick hit
quick win
rationalisation
reablement
rebaselining
reconfigured
resource allocation
resource efficient
revenue streams
re-weaving
risk based
robust
safeguarding
scaled-back
scoping
sector wise
seedbed
self-aggrandisement
service users
shared priority
shell developments
signpost
single conversations
single point of contact
situational
slippage
social contracts
social exclusion
spatial
stakeholder
step change
strategic
strategic priorities
streamlined
sub-regional
subsidiarity
sustainable
sustainable communities
symposium
synergies
systematics
taxonomy
tested for soundness
thematic
thinking outside the box
third sector
thought shower
tonality
toolkit
top-down
trajectory
tranche
transactional
transformational
transparency
trialogue
under-capacitated
uplifting
upstream
upward trend
utilise
value-added
vision
visionary
wash-up session
webinar
wellbeing
wellderly
who blinks first
wicked issues
worklessness
world cafe
Find the Local Government Association online.
