Conservative Minister Bans Jargon in Education Department

Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, has ordered his civil servants to write in language their mums would understand in a drive to banish jargon from his department.

Mr Gove, known for his love of plain English, has written to civil servants with new “golden rules” to make their letters more comprehensible.  To get them writing “concise, polite and precise” correspondence, he suggested they should consider whether their mum, or his own, would understand each sentence.

The ten guidelines advised officials to read their letters aloud, cut out excessive adjectives and take inspiration from clear writers like George Orwell.  However, Mr Gove also wrote a longer guide containing his philosophy on the art of letter writing, starting with the claim that “concision is in itself a form of politeness.”

In this note, he gave several examples of where officials might have been going wrong, including the use of “inflated political rhetoric” or giving “general formulaic replies.”  Ordering them to “cut out unnecessary words”, he said: “Rather than writing “the policy that we are introducing is intended to drive a change in behaviours on the part of teachers with respect to the poorest and most disadvantaged children and young people” say “the policy will change how teachers behave towards poorer students”.

Mr Gove, a former journalist, who studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, said officials should introduce one idea per paragraph, use a sympathetic tone and make sure they spell the recipient’s name correctly.

He also cautioned against sounding self-important in a letter.  He wrote, “It does not require a writing style modelled on Leonard Sachs from The Good Old Days or Sir Humphrey in Yes, Minister.  Using inflated political rhetoric of the “first may I say how much I care about X” is not polite.  It is a time-wasting exercise in self-regarding pomposity.  So don’t even go there.  Instead use direct, clear and vigorous language.”

In the guidelines, he suggested officials should read “the greats”, including George Orwell, Jane Austen, George Eliot and Evelyn Waugh.  He also gave two more modern examples of clear prose writers: The Times write and former MP Matthew Parris and journalist Christopher Hitchens.

The senior Tory’s intervention comes after several attempts by Government ministers to improve the writing of their staff.  When she was the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening sent employees in her department a five-page essay on grammar in 2011.

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, also drew up guidelines on how officials should use clauses and semi-colons after taking on the job last year.

Mr Gove’s guidelines suggest bureaucrats should:

1. If in doubt, cut it out
2. Read it out loud – if it sounds wrong, don’t send it
3. In letters, adjectives add little, adverbs even less
4. The more the letter reads like a political speech the less good it is as a letter
5.  Would your mum understand that word, phrase, or sentence?  Would mine?
6. Read the great writers to improve your own prose – George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh, Jane Austen and George Eliot, Matthew Parris and Christopher Hitchens
7. Always use concrete words and phrases in preference to abstractions
8. Gwynne’s Grammar is a brief guide to the best writing style
9. Simon Heffer’s Strictly English is a more comprehensive – and very entertaining – companion volume
10. Our written work should be the clearest, most elegant, and most enjoyable to read of any Whitehall department’s because the Department for Education has the best civil servants in Whitehall