Rochford District Council’s Environmental Protection Unit has been awarded 28 Crystal Mark Accreditations by the Plain English Campaign for their advice and information leaflets.
The chairman of the council presents the plain english award
In order to gain this prestigious accreditation the Council had to satisfy the Plain English Campaign that its leaflets were clear, concise and jargon-free.
The accredited leaflets provide advice on a range of topics the unit deal with such as smoky bonfires, loud noise, blinding light and pungent odours, to a full range of pest control leaflets from rats, mice and foxes to a whole range of insects. Each leaflet now proudly displays the Crystal Mark symbol on its cover.
In order to gain Plain English accreditation, all the text on every leaflet had to be revised, whilst still remaining relevant to the law. This included giving particular consideration as to whom the leaflet was aimed. For example: Was the leaflet providing advice for a person who may wish to complain about a noise nuisance, or providing advice on how to avoid causing a noise nuisance.
This task began in November 2008 with a full update of all the leaflets’ external contact details and was then sent to the Plain English Campaign for approval.
The editing for Plain English began in December 2008 and was finally completed in April 2009.
Following this process residents have access to leaflets which are clear and concise, with no technical jargon, set out in a consistent and logical order. They are also easier for those unfamiliar with the subject matter to understand. The leaflets have also improved visually by removing unnecessary images.
During this process, a new leaflet was created to provide information about types of odours, and what assistance the unit can provide if an odour causes a problem.
The new leaflets will be available to download from the Environment/Pollution section of the website, which has also been updated to provide better introductory paragraphs, and additional links to other sources of advice from external sites relevant to the topic, as well as an updated A-Z search for all types of subjects the unit covers.
Rochford District Council’s Head of Environmental Services, Richard Evans, extended his thanks and praise to all those members of staff who had been involved in the accreditation process. “It has been challenging and protracted task which has required total dedication and attention to detail, however, the excellent outcome has made the extra effort more than worthwhile. We now have an extensive range of Environmental Protection information leaflets to be proud of and which our customers will I am sure find to be most helpful and informative”.
