Guidance on Producing Documents

Guidance on producing documents

This section gives advice and guidance on what to do and what not to do when writing and preparing documents. It includes information on the Commission's word-processing package (Microsoft Office Word 2007) and how it is set up, including templates, autotexts and other shortcuts for producing work efficiently and in the correct style.

This guidance should be read and followed by all staff. Anyone who prepares drafts for later finishing by support staff should note that if the style is correct when a document is first drafted, less work is needed at a later stage (to get the style right) and so work can be finished more quickly.

This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Style Guide, which shows the layout of letters and reports on the printed letterhead or electronic template.

Here is a quick guide to start off. See below the table for the full guidance, or select pages from the menu on the left-hand side.

Do... Do not...

Use active verbs such as in: “I will send you a letter Don't use passive verbs such as in: “A letter will be sent to …” you …” Make sentences positive, as in “If you do … then I Don't make sentences negative, as in: “If you don’t … then can …” I can’t …” Split infinitives where it makes sense because it will Don't keep rigidly to grammatical myths like ‘never split an keep the correct meaning of the sentence. infinitive’. Use bullet point lists as much as you can. Don't write large blocks of unbroken text. Use a colon to introduce a list. Don't put a hyphen or dash after a colon at the start of a list. Be consistent: use the same style of bullets (or Don't have lists in different styles - some bulleted, some numbers) for every use in a single document, and numbered, some with small Roman figures, some indented ensure you are consistent with margins, spacing, 1cm, some 2cm, some with 6pt space after each line, some spelling and text size, too. without, and so on. Use plain terms that non-specialists will understand. Don't use Latin words or phrases. Use apostrophes only to show possession (the Don't put apostrophes in plurals. council’s policy), or to show where letters are omitted (can’t, won’t). Use sentence case, with the absolute minimum of Don't write headings or sentences in capital letters, or add capital letters. unnecessary capitals to words or phrases. Use “speech marks” (double inverted commas) Don't use “speech marks” (double inverted commas) for when you quote a document or something someone anything else. has said. Use ‘single inverted commas’ when using a word or Don't use ‘single inverted commas’ for quoted speech or phrase that is jargon or may need some explanation quotes from documents. in the context Check the dictionary before putting hyphens in Don't put hyphens in words that don’t have them. words beginning with a prefix (like re or anti) as most do not have hyphens. Do... Do not...

Write the numbers one to nine in words, and 10 and Don''t start sentences with a figure. over as figures, (except in tables or if it is the first word in a sentence). Left-justify all text in documents, including Don't centre text or fully-justify text. headings, headers and footers. It is good practice and helps people with dyslexia. It is also Commission style. Separate paragraphs with two line spaces (press Don't separate paragraphs with more than two line spaces. Enter or Return twice except in the report template where only one is necessary because it is already formatted). Use italics for titles of documents in the text. Don't use both italics and 'inverted commas' at the same time. Put a single space after a full stop, question mark, Don't put two spaces after punctuation marks. Word comma, exclamation mark, semicolon or colon. automatically makes the space after a full stop bigger anyway. Leave no space before full stops, question marks, Don't leave a space before any punctuation mark (except a exclamation marks, slashes, semicolons, colons or dash). hyphens - but do put them before and after a dash. Avoid including punctuation marks in Don't include punctuation in abbreviations or addresses abbreviations or addresses. (except where typing two For emphasis and/or headings and subheadings, Don't use underlining for any reason. It indicates a use bold, italic and/or large size font, not underlining. hyperlink.

We have drawn on many sources in preparing this guide, including The Plain English Guide by Martin Cutts (Oxford 1995). We would like to thank Martin for his suggestions and comments on a draft of this revised version.

Latest revision: May 2011 Plain English

. What is plain English?

. Identifying your reader

. Sentences

. Paragraphs

. Active and passive verbs

. Understandable words

. Cutting out unnecessary words

. Use verbs instead of nominalisations

. Sounding positive

. Grammatical myths

. Layout of letters

Contact for updating this page: Rob Rundle

What is plain English?

Plain English is the clearest way to put your message across.

Plain English means writing in a way that communicates best with your readers. It is highly professional and effective. It does not mean being patronising or over simple. It does not mean reducing the length or meaning of your message. It is not about banning new words, killing off long words or letting grammar slip. Also, it is not as easy as you might think. But, once you have got the hang of it, it is faster to write, faster to read, and you will get your message across more often, more easily and in a friendlier way.

Identifying your reader

The most important reader to target in the case of an investigation report is the complainant.

It is important to identify your reader. If you know who you are writing for (and why), you will make better decisions about how you write. It is simple enough to identify your reader when writing a personal letter. But who are you writing for when it comes to an investigation report? (See the reports section in the Investigation handbook). Be careful when there are a number of readers to be borne in mind, with different levels of expertise and knowledge about the subject matter. Sentences

Mixing long and short sentences makes text easier to read.

A sentence is a complete statement that can stand by itself. The average length of a sentence is 15-20 words. But sentences should not all be the same length. Be punchy. Vary your writing by mixing short sentences with longer ones, following the basic principle of sticking to one main idea in a sentence, and perhaps one other related point. Most long sentences can – and should – be broken up in some way.

Paragraphs

A paragraph should only include one main idea.

A paragraph should cover one idea or issue. Short paragraphs are good in that they break up the text more on a page, but you should not break up paragraphs artificially in order to achieve this. Also, do not be afraid to have paragraphs of only one sentence.

Active voice and passive voice verbs

Using active verbs makes your letters more personal and friendly.

What are active and passive verbs?

These are passive voice verb (or passive verbs, for short):

. A letter will be sent to you …

. You received an occupational health assessment on 3 June 2008 …

. Outline permission was granted for …

. Benefit is paid by the Council on alternate Tuesdays …

They are verbs where there is either no doer mentioned, or where the doer follows the action instead of coming first.

Using passive verbs makes sentences dull, impersonal and difficult to understand. Sentences with passive verbs often leave the reader wondering who is doing these things.

These are active voice verbs (active verbs, for short): . I will send you a letter …

. Officer X visited you to make the occupational health assessment on 3 June 2008 …

. The Council’s Development Control Committee granted permission for …

. The Council pays benefit on alternate Tuesdays …

Active verbs make sentences lively and personal, and are often more helpful because they say who did or will do the action referred to.

To make sure you use active verbs wherever possible, just put the doer in front of the verb. It is perfectly all right if the doer is a group or an organisation – you cannot always be more specific, and there will also be times when you need to choose not to be.

How to spot passive verbs

One way you can spot passives, especially when the doer is not mentioned, is to note that they are almost always formed from the verb to be – be, being, am, are, is being, were, will be. They also have a past participle. So a complete passive verb could be will be done, has been claimed, or was written.

Good use of passives

There are some instances where it makes sense to use a passive verb. For example, to sound less hostile – this procedure was not followed is less hostile than you did not follow this procedure. Or you may not know who or what the doer is – especially if it is case of a failure to take action – for example the notification letter was not sent.

However, you should aim to make about 80-90 per cent of your verbs active.

I and we

If you use passive verbs it allows you to remain anonymous when you are writing on behalf of the Commission. But if you adopt a friendlier style by using I, you and we, the text you produce will usually be easier for the reader to understand.

You is, of course, more appropriate for letters than it is for a report, as a report is directed at more than one recipient (ie the council, the press and other third parties, as well as the complainant).

For example, use phrases like:

. we found that (instead of it was found that)

. I accept that (instead of it is accepted that), and . we recommend that (instead of it is recommended that).

Understandable words

Write to communicate, not impress.

Say exactly what you mean, using the simplest words that fit. This does not necessarily mean only using simple words – just words that the reader will understand. See the Plain words (download) for a list of words and phrases it is best to avoid.

Don’t use in-house jargon unless you are writing to someone who uses the same jargon. There are some terms we have to use that are not in everyday usage, so make sure you explain what these terms are when you first use them. Also, we use some ordinary words in a very specific way, for example:

. local settlements

. neutral letters

. provisional views

. premature complaints

. reports (ie we usually mean investigation reports)

Cutting out unnecessary words

Avoid pointless verbosity.

Do not put unnecessary words in your writing. For example:

instead of... use as and when either as or when, not both each and every every in the event of if we should be grateful if you would please would you

See Plain Words (download) for more examples.

Avoid using nouns derived from verbs.

A nominalisation is a type of abstract noun. It is the name of a process, technique or emotion rather than of a physical object. Nominalisations are derived from verbs, for example:

verb nominalisation complete completion introduce introduction provide provision fail failure arrange arrangement investigate investigation

The problem with them is that often they are used instead of the verbs they come from. They can make it sound as if nothing is happening in a sentence. Like passive verbs, too many of them make writing very dull and heavy- going.

Here are some examples, showing how sentences are improved by using a verb instead of a nominalisation.

nominalisation verb

We carried out an investigation of the complaint ... We investigated the complaint ...

If you would like consideration to be given to your If you would like us to consider your comments on the comments on the report ... report ...

To avoid disruption to parking in Ms Smith's street, it is To disrupt parking in Ms Smith's street as little as proposed that your Council expedite the completion of possible, we suggest that you complete the road road works. works quickly.

Sounding positive

Turn the negative into a positive.

Always emphasise the positive side of things. For example: Negative Positive

If you don't send your payment, we won't be able to Please send your payment so that we can renew your renew your subscription for reports. subscription for reports.

If I do not hear from you within two weeks, a decision will Please reply within two weeks to ensure that I have the be made on how to pursue the complaint without the benefit of your comments before I decide how to benefit of your comments. pursue the complaint.

Grammatical myths

Forget the myths you’ve been conditioned to believe.

In the past, grammarians decided it was bad form to do certain things. But if it makes your sentence clearer, don’t worry about bad form.

. You can start a sentence with and, but, because, so or however.

. You can end a sentence with a preposition. So it is not a case of something we will not put up with.

. You can repeat a word in a sentence if you can’t find a better word (but there is usually a better alternative).

. And you can split infinitives (that is, putting a word or phrase between to and the verb word). There is no reason in logic or grammar for avoiding it. The only thing you need to watch is that the gap between to and the verb word does not become too great, as the reader could lose track of the meaning.

In the following examples the infinitives are better split than not:

. The department wants to more than double its budget

. The passengers were asked to carefully get down from the train

Sometimes, people try so hard to avoid splitting infinitives that they end up writing sentences that don’t really mean what they intend, such as:

. ... the Council failed properly to ensure that their son’s special educational needs were met.

Here the adverb – properly – relates to the immediately preceding verb – failed. So the council’s failure was proper. Is that what the writer intended to say? More likely the writer means to say that it failed to do something properly. So, to avoid this kind of error, simply split the infinitive, like this:

. ... the Council failed to properly ensure that their son’s special educational needs were met.

Because this sentence is short, you can also put the adverb at the end of the sentence like this: . ... the Council failed to ensure that their son’s special educational needs were met properly.

But this doesn’t usually work with longer sentences.

Layout of letters

Break up letters with headings and subheadings, and number the paragraphs in long letters.

Most official letters benefit from a heading (such as Complaint against Norfolk County Council for a letter to a complainant and, Complaint by Mr Joe Bloggs for a letter to a council). This introduces the topic and saves having to write a long first sentence to cover the same ground.

In most letters, use subheadings to group the various points you are making.

In long, detailed letters, it is a good idea to number the paragraphs. This makes it easier for the person receiving the letter to refer to parts of the letter when they reply. You might want to have one or two unnumbered introductory paragraphs at the beginning of the letter, then follow this with your first subheading and start numbering the paragraphs.

It is also a good idea to include a clear statement of the purpose of the letter right at the start. On a recent plain English course, investigators looked at examples of actual Commission decision letters, and it was rarely clear that this is what they were until the end of the letter.

See Sample letters (download) for an example of a bad letter, with some comments on what is wrong with it, and a rewritten version (a good letter).

Lists are another useful way of splitting information up and improving layout and readability, both in letters and reports. Documents and templates

. Introduction

. Opening templates

. Saving documents

. Letter templates

. Statements of reasons

. Reports

. Interview notes

. List of templates

Contact for updating this page: Rob Rundle

Introduction

In most cases, you will probably be working direct from COIN2. But where that is not the case, you should always start a new document by accessing the appropriate Word template. Please do not overwrite old documents – not even recent ones – as you may then not be using the latest version of the template, missing out on changes or improvements, and are likely to perpetuate errors.

Opening templates

To access templates, click the ‘Office button’ (top left corner of screen), then New. Templates that you have used recently will be visible under ‘blank and recent’, but if you want a different one, click ‘My templates’. Double-click on the one you want and it will open up automatically.

Margins for letters, reports and statements of reasons are already included in the templates and must not be altered. Documents should be properly formatted according to the Style Guide.

There is a list of templates below.

Saving documents

Word documents should be saved in Compatibility Mode. When you go through the ‘save’ process, save as file type ‘Word 97 – 2003 document’. This is because if you send a Word 2007 document to someone who has an older version of Word they will not be able to open it. The file name should end in ‘.doc’ not ‘.docx’. Your PC should be set up to do this automatically – if not, contact your IT Technician. The same principle applies to Excel and Powerpoint documents.

Letter templates

All the COIN standard letters and letter templates include the required formats so that they comply with the Style Guide.

As well as the COIN letters, there are letter templates in each office for use with printed letterhead paper, and templates including the logo and other pre-printed details, for use when the letter is sent by email.

Type draft letters in 1.5 line spacing and mark ‘Draft letter’ in bold and capitals on the first line (or use a watermark – you’ll find this in the Page layout tab). Insert the filename at the end for easy location when it comes to finalise the letter.

See Letter layout for more help.

Statements of reasons

You can find General guidance on statements of reasons in the casework section.

The template for statements of reasons is called PV.

The template is set up to initially as a Provisional view (PV), but can be instantly altered to be an Ombudsman’s decision – see below.

How to use the template

When you open the template for the first time (only) you will see this message:

Headings are for guidance only: add/delete where applicable

In the section at the top, enter the complaint ref no, name of BinJ (body in jurisdiction) and date where indicated.

The headings, as stated in the message, are for help and guidance. You can change them as you consider most appropriate.

Using the template

. Hitting return after a subheading continues the paragraph numbering.

. To insert a new subheading, go to a new line and press Alt+2 (the paragraph numbering will self-adjust). . Pressing the tab key starts a bulleted list (one level only).

. After the end of a bulleted list, to start a new line in normal paragraph numbering, press return to show a new bullet, then Shift+Tab together.

. If you want a line of text (without a new paragraph number) between two bulleted lists, hit return after the first list, then backspace twice, then return to go to a new line. To start a new bulleted list press Alt+B.

. If, for some reason, you come out of the numbering/bullet setup, press Alt-P to continue the numbered paragraphs, and Alt+B starts a bulleted list.

Turning a provisional view into an Ombudsman’s decision

After you have received comments from the complainant and authority, you will wish to amend your PV and turn it into an Ombudsman’s decision. To do this:

. Open the PV template (see Opening templates) and save it with a new name in the agreed style for final decisions.

. Hit Alt-D. This will amend the title and footer and insert the Commission’s logo.

. Then make your text amendments as required.

. This document is designed to be sent by email. However, if you need to print your Ombudsman’s decision (SoR) on headed paper, then simply save a new version (suggest adding ‘nologo’ to the name of the new document) and delete the logo.

Reports

Here are some of the shortcuts that have been set up in the report template to make it easy to use:

. To continue the paragraph numbering after moving to a new section or inserting quotes. The numbering will start where you left off

hit Alt+P .

. To indent (go down a level in the paragraph numbering).

hit Tab. You will remain at this level until you hit Shift+Tab.

. To insert a quote

go to a new line, delete the paragraph number, then hit Alt+Q

. To insert a footnote hit Alt+N.

. To insert a new heading, subheading or sub-subheading

type the words and hit Alt+1 for a heading type the words and hit Alt+2 for a subheading type the words and hit Alt+3 for a sub-subheading

These headings will all be included in the table of contents once it has been updated. This happens automatically when you close a document and reopen it, but to manually update the table of contents, right click on it, select update field, and select update entire table.

Interview notes

Interview notes are not set as a template. There is a form you can use on LuCY. It has no special settings, but for consistency and readability (someone else may need to read it at some point) you should follow all the usual Commission style and formatting.

List of templates Name Lon Cov Yor Used for blank document L C Y anything not covered by other templates

CLA paper L C Y papers for Commission meetings

Draft report (Lon) (Cov) L C Y investigation draft key facts & report (York)

L C fax header Millbank fax Coventry fax 08 LGO no logo (letter) L C Y letter that is to be printed onto letterhead (no logo or footer) LGO 01a London JM L London team letter with logo, to be attached to an email where Jane Martin is acting LGO LGO 01b London AS L London team letter with logo, to be attached to an email where Anne Seex is acting LGO LGO 02 Corp Services L Commission/Corporate Services letter with logo, to be attached to an JM email (Jane Martin, Acting Chairman) LGO 03 blank L C Y any document (not a letter) where the LGO logo is required (portrait format only) LGO 06 Cov JM (eletter) C Coventry team letter with logo, to be attached to an email. memo/memorandum L C Y internal memorandum (but you should probably be using email instead) PV L C Y provisional view/Ombudsman’s decision [statement of reasons] Letter layout

. Date and address

. Mode of address

. Honours, decorations etc

. Limited companies and solicitors

. Reference, 'if telephoning' and heading

. Salutation and closure

. Signatures and enclosures

Guidance on layout for letters

Contact for updating this page: Rob Rundle

Date and address

Type the date where indicated (line 1 or 2.5cm).

Se Dates for date format.

Where both ‘Confidential’ and ‘First class’ are required, type them on the same line (line 3 or 4.7cm), separated by an ampersand (&) to ensure that they are both displayed in the window envelope.

If the letter is going to be sent by email type by email two lines above the start of the name-and-address block, along with confidential separated by an ampersand (&), if required.

If the letter is to be sent overseas, type Surface mail or Airmail, as appropriate, in the top left-hand corner of the envelope (or use an airmail sticker, if available).

Type the first line of the name-and-address block on line 7 or 5.6cm. The Post Office uses only towns and postcodes in sorting post, not counties, so omit the county especially if the address is long. Fit the address into no more than six lines, putting the postcode on the same line as the town if necessary.

If including For the attention of …, type it two lines below the address.

Make sure the address will be displayed in the envelope window, if being posted, including any additions eg Confidential, For the attention of ….

If the letter includes First class, the envelope will need to be stamped accordingly in the top left corner. Use the rubber stamp provided. Do not include any punctuation at all in the address unless, for example, you need to squeeze a very long address into fewer lines. Then you should use a comma to separate two parts of an address on the same line.

Mode of address

Letters should be addressed in the following style:

. Mr J Smith

. Mrs J Smith

. Miss J Smith

. Ms J Smith

. Mr John Smith MP (unless the MP is ‘The Right Honourable’ when the title (Mr, Mrs etc) is not required. The full name should always be used)

. Mr & Mrs J Smith (the salutation should be typed ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’)

Never use ‘Esq’. Not only is it archaic, but it has different meanings to different groups, and is contrary to the Commission’s Equality & Diversity Policy.

Honours, decorations etc

Where correspondents have used them, you can type these after the recipients’ names. In general, only include Queen’s honours – not degrees, memberships of institutions etc. If in doubt, seek guidance.

Limited companies and solicitors

Address letters to a limited company to a named officer if possible, otherwise to an unnamed officer, using the job title such as the Company Secretary, the Managing Director or similar. Salutations and closures follow normal rules, see below.

When addressing letters to a firm of solicitors such as ‘Bloggs & Bloggs’, use the salutation ‘Dear Bloggs & Bloggs’ or ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ (not Dear Sirs) and the closure ‘Yours faithfully’.

When sending a letter to a named person in a firm of solicitors use the person’s name when addressing the letter.

References should be at least two lines below the address and, if letter is being posted, should not be visible in the envelope window. Both references should line up with each other. Delete ‘Your ref:’ if not required.

The reference should include the author/typist’s initials. ‘Please quote our reference when contacting us’ will already be in the standard letter or template, under ‘Our ref:’.

Two lines below the reference, insert the ‘If telephoning…or sending email to ….’ information. Replace the text in the template with the appropriate autotext by selecting the template text before pasting the autotext. Use direct line telephone numbers, and do not hyphenate them.

Leave at least three lines between the ‘If telephoning…’ block and the salutation.

Type the heading two lines below the salutation in bold. Do not use block capitals or underlining. Any subheadings or paragraph numbering should be in the same style as used in reports.

Salutation and closure

The closure should be typed two lines below the end of the letter.

When the letter is addressed to a named person, use ‘Yours sincerely’ to close, eg:

Dear Mr Smith - Yours sincerely

When the letter in not addressed to a named person, use ‘Yours faithfully’ to close, eg:

Dear Sir/Madam - Yours faithfully

Signatures and enclosures

Type the name and job title of the author (except certain people – see below) at least six lines below the closure on the left-hand side and in initial capitals (signoffs should be available as autotexts).

Signatures of individual staff should appear above their typed name and their job title. The job title is not required for the Chairman whose name and title appears on the headed paper. The same applies to the other Ombudsmen and the Deputies, but check their personal preference on whether they want their job title included in the closure or not.

If using an electronic signature, insert it using an autotext.

Enclosures should be indicated under the closure by typing ‘Enc:’ followed by the names of the documents enclosed. This can be typed in 10pt. Capital letters, abbreviations and initials

. Capital letters

. Abbreviations and initials

Contact for updating this page: Rob Rundle

Capital letters

If in doubt about whether to use capitals – don’t do it!

Readability

. Research has proven that using capital letters makes words and sentences harder to read. WRITING IN ALL CAPITALS IS THE WORST, and now that most people are internet users it is increasingly seen as SHOUTING.

. But Even Title Case Is Harder To Read than sentence case, which puts capitals on only the first word and words that really need them.

Importance

. Adding a capital letter to something may cause the reader to assign it some importance that it does not merit. Resist the temptation to reflect the social pecking order by writing, for example, Managers but staff, Councillors but officers or the public. Better to make them all lower case (but see below)

Clarifying meanings

. Some words need a capital letter to make their meaning clear: for instance, the (Parliamentary) Gas Bill to distinguish it from the household gas bill.

Acts of Parliament

. Acts of Parliament should have capitals, such as the Local Government Act 1974, but sections of Acts do not need them.

Organisations and jobs/roles

. Words such as authority, borough, council, councillor, committee, town/parish council, officer, development, etc should have initial capitals only if used in an official title or where their use is a convenient shortening of such a title. If used generally, no capitals are required.

. For example: London Borough of Hackney and Devon County Council should have initial capitals and, if later in the same document you refer to the same body as the Council, then use a capital C.

. Do not use a capital letter just because the word council has the in front of it.

. So, the word council in the sentence Ensure that the council does what its own policy or established practice requires should not have a capital C unless the sentence refers to a specific, previously-named council. If it is referring to a hypothetical council, the c should be in lower case. . Consider this: if you are writing a letter or investigation report where the references to the council (or the housing department etc) refer to the council complained about, initial capitals are correct. If, however, you are typing a management paper, text of a guidance note etc, referring to councils in a general way, lower case should be used.

. The word member should be avoided wherever possible. Although it is commonly used in local authority circles, other people might confuse it with MPs. If used, it should not have an initial capital unless it refers to a named person.

Government and government departments

. The Government

. Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)

. Department of Health (DoH)

. a government department

. government advice

Officer titles

. the Borough Treasurer (a specific named council’s borough treasurer)

. Officer A

. a council officer (in general)

. a Council officer (of a specific named council)

. the social worker concerned

. Social Worker A

Councillors

. a councillor

. the councillor concerned

. Councillor A

. a council member (in general)

. a Council member (of a specific named council)

. a member

. the member concerned

. Member A

The authority

. the Council (a specific named council)

. the council (in general) . authority (in general)

. the Authority (a specific named authority)

. council houses

Committees

. a committee

. the committee (in general)

. the Committee (a specific named committee)

. the planning committee (in general)

. the Planning Committee (of a specific named council)

. a subcommittee

. the subcommittee (in general)

. the Subcommittee (a specific named committee)

. the Admissions Panel (of a specific named authority/school)

Departments

. the Housing Department (of a specific named council)

. the planning department (in general)

Professionals

. an architect

. the Architect (a specific named individual already referred to)

. a headteacher

. the Headteacher (of the specific named school)

Other common terms

. special educational needs

. listed buildings

. registered homes

. building control

. housing benefit

. council tax benefit

Do not include full stops or other punctuation in abbreviations.

Abbreviations are usually written in capital letters, but that does not mean that the phrase it abbreviates should also have capitals. For example, RTB = right to buy, LEA = local education authority, although BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation. It is irrelevant whether the abbreviation is preceded by the word 'the'.

In a report, put a key to abbreviations used at the beginning, after the table of contents and key to names used.

Be kind and helpful to your readers. Do not assume they will know what the initials NACAB, RTB, LEA, BC, DC, MBC, stand for. It is very simple to read the words right to buy, but very irritating to see RTB and wonder what it means. So when in doubt, spell it out.

Start by spelling out the name of the organisation in full, with the abbreviation in brackets afterwards. Then you can use the initials on their own. But remember it is probably worth spelling the name out in full again in any section of a report that might be read independently – such as the conclusions or summary of an investigation report. Consider how annoying it must be for people who are reading the conclusions to a report when they find an abbreviation that they do not recognise, without any clue to where the full name may be mentioned in the preceding 20 pages or more.

You need not spell out very obvious initials such as MP, BBC or UK. But the fewer capital letters stringing through a sentence, the better. And do not put full stops between initials (see Punctuation).

Avoid using eg – use for example, for instance, or such as.

Spell out per cent (except in tables).

Use kilo or kilometre, rather than kg and km (except in tables). See also Units of measurement.

. Spacing in punctuation

. Apostrophes

. Brackets

. Full stops

. Hyphens

. Inverted commas

. Semicolons and colons

. Slashes

General rule when using punctuation:

Spacing around punctuation

Never put a space before any of the following:

. full stops

. question marks

. exclamation marks

. slashes

. colons

. semicolons

. hyphens

But do put spaces around dashes – used for joining clauses in a way that is sometimes better than using brackets.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes show either possession or omitted letters, not plurals.

Many people make mistakes when using apostrophes. Here is a simplified version of the rules.

Possessives

Add ‘s to show possession, for example:

. children’s needs . an MP’s salary

. Susan’s mother

. Mr Smith’s garden

. Mr and Mrs Smith’s complaint

. Sir Richard’s house

. St James’s Park

The names James and Thomas always have ‘s added for possessives, but, for most other names ending in the letter s – or a letter that produces an s sound, such as x, an apostrophe on its own is sufficient, for example:

. Moses’ mother

. Mr and Mrs Jones’ car

. Anne Seex’ report

You also need to put the apostrophe at the end of the word (without another s following it) when indicating a possessive for a plural subject. For example, note the difference between:

. the parent’s case (for a single parent), and

. the parents’ case (for more than one parent).

And be careful when you have more than one subject in a sentence where you need to show possession, for example:

wrong right

Peter and Jenny’s mother Peter’s and Jenny’s mother two people: (1) Peter and (2) Jenny's mother one person, mother of both Peter and Jenny

Never put an apostrophe in its, yours, ours, hers or theirs.

It’s is a contraction of it is or it has.

Omissions

You can use an apostrophe to indicate where a letter or letters have been omitted from a word, or where two words have been contracted together, for example don’t, isn’t, wouldn’t – but it is best to be very sparing with this kind of contraction. Plurals

It is almost always wrong to put an apostrophe in a plural. For example:

. do not use an apostrophe in plurals such as 1980s, MPs or AOs, and

. when referring to the members of the Jones family use the Joneses not the Jones’s.

You only need to use an apostrophe to indicate possession (and then you need to be careful where you position it). See possessives above.

Brackets

You can use square brackets in drafts to enclose a query, a suggestion for alternative wording, or missing information.

In final text, use square brackets within a quotation to show that you have added some words of your own (for example, the complainant’s pseudonym instead of their real name).

Otherwise, use round ones ( ). You can also use square brackets in bibliographies to enclose an author’s name, publication place or date that does not appear in the publication cited, for example:

Geddes, D. St Michael’s Church, Amberley, Blathwayt Press, [1871];

Watch the punctuation with brackets. (If the words inside the bracket form a complete sentence, the full stop goes inside, like this.) If you are simply adding a word or phrase in brackets, the full stop goes outside (like this).

Full stops

No full stops in abbreviations or addresses.

Always leave out full stops in abbreviations and contractions. So there are no full stops in names (Dr K A Smith, not Dr. K. A. Smith) or in abbreviations (UK, MP, GLA etc).

Nor should you use full stops in common abbreviations such as:

. eg (but see advice on Latin phrases)

. ie (but see advice on Latin phrases)

. etc (but see advice on Latin phrases)

. no (for number) . p or pp (for page or pages)

Hyphens

Check the dictionary – far fewer words are hyphenated than you think.

Like other punctuation, hyphens are meant to help understanding and avoid misreading or mispronunciation. So, where there is little danger of either problem, there’s probably no hyphen.

Do not use hyphens to break a word at the end of a line of typing.

The most common difficulty people have with hyphens stems from the fact that use of the hyphen depends on the position in the sentence. For example:

. She is very good at decision making.

. She was involved in the decision-making process.

In the first sentence above, there is no ambiguity or danger of misreading. In the second, the hyphen helps the reader understand what is intended. This is particularly useful when the hyphenated words break over the end of a line of text.

The rule is: use hyphens to link words that form a composite adjective before a noun, as in these examples:

. council-owned house

. computer-based work

. short-term goals

. part-time investigator

. out-of-hours telephone number

. three-year-old child

This kind of hyphenation helps to reduce ambiguities and stumbles. For example, in the phrase black cab driver, is it the cab that is black or the driver? If the former, it should be written: black-cab driver.

Some nouns formed by two or more words need hyphens: run-up, punch-up, build-up. Without a hyphen, there is ambiguity in a sentence like:

Last week there was a bust up in the street where the possible meanings include fight, drug bust or piece of sculpture.

You rarely need to hyphenate a verb. The hyphens in spelling-out and paying-off are incorrect, although you do need one in power-up (as in to power-up a machine).

Some examples of words we commonly use that are not hyphenated are: where the words should remain separate (but see above for cases where a hyphen is needed after all, because of the way the words are being used):

. child minder

. decision making

. lower case

. owner occupier

. record keeping

. to date

. upper case where the word should be one word without hyphenation (most words with prefixes are not hyphenated - check the dictionary if you’re not sure, as there are exceptions). This means almost all words starting with re, under, over, anti, sub etc, such as:

. antisocial

. overpayment

. overrule

. prerequisite

. redevelopment

. rehoused

. reinstatement

. reconsider

. semicolon

. subcommittee

. subheading

. backdate

. headteacher

. website where it’s a matter of style:

. It is now usual to use email not e-mail. There is little or no danger of misunderstanding or misreading this, so the hyphen is unnecessary. It’s not wrong to put in a hyphen, but remember to be consistent. where you’re quoting a document:

. If you use a direct quote in a letter or report, and the hyphenation doesn’t match what we say here, you should use it as written, without comment. But in the rest of the document please follow the correct usage/Commission style.

Inverted commas

Only use speech marks for quoting speech or from a document.

Double inverted commas (also known as quotes or speech marks)

Use double inverted commas “...” when quoting speech or directly from a document.

The officer’s note said: “This person should be offered the next available suitable property.”

If you use an incomplete quote or sentence, indicate with three leader dots (called an ellipsis), like this “... the complainants were aware ...”.

When using words in quotation marks, place all punctuation according to the sense.

If punctuation marks belong with the quoted words, put them inside the closing quotation mark, but not otherwise.

If you quote a single word or short phrase that is not a complete sentence, put the full stop outside the quotation mark.

If you quote a complete sentence or sentences, put the full stop inside the quotation mark. For example:

. The document refers to “draft reports and final reports”.

. “Final reports should be in 1.2 line spacing.”

Single inverted commas

In all other cases, mainly for jargon words or phrases that might either need some explanation or else simply need to be indicated as jargon with a specific meaning, use single inverted commas, for example:

. The Council had a ‘one offer only’ policy. . When we obtain a remedy for a complaint without issuing a public report, we call this a ‘local settlement’.

Semicolons and colons

Semicolons separate equal clauses; colons indicate a step forward from one idea to the next.

Use of semicolons

Use a semicolon to separate two or more clauses that are of more or less equal importance, and that are linked as part of a pair or series. For example:

. As I am not satisfied with the council’s response to that report, I have made a further report; it is enclosed.

. The chief executive is being asked for any comments she may have on the complaint; I am sending a copy of this letter for her information.

You can also use semicolons to divide the parts of a sentence that includes a list.

However, consider whether, instead, it might be better if you set out the items as a bulleted or numbered list, especially if they are important.

Use of colons

Whereas the semicolon indicates equal or balanced clauses of a sentence, the colon generally marks a step forward, from introduction to main theme, from cause to effect, or from premise to conclusion. For example:

. Always remember the basic rule: you must complain to the council first.

. You should exercise care where planning applications are amended: you need to consider whether you should renotify neighbours about the amended proposal if the amendment is significant.

It is regularly used to introduce examples, as:

Where you use a colon, do not follow it with a dash. To quote Martin Cutts (of the Plain Language Commission):

This nameless thing [:–] is not acceptable to most publishers, wastes a keystroke, and looks repulsive in most word-processed documents. Back to top

Slashes

When using a slash in an and/or situation, or to show a date such as 2010/11, do not put spaces on either side of the slash.

Other grammar

. Stereotype traps

. Legal and Latin

. Names

. Dates

. Numbers

. Units of measurement

. Lists

. Singular and plural

Contact for updating this page: Rob Rundle

Stereotype traps

You all know to avoid using racist or sexist language or other language that could cause offence to other groups covered by our Equality and Diversity Policy. This is a gentle reminder.

Some phrases are not acceptable. For example, you cannot make An Englishman’s home is his castle right by changing it to An English person’s home is their castle so it is best if you avoid it altogether.

There are different views on the acceptability of using they and their to avoid he or she and him or her, so wherever possible, it is best if you convert your subject to the plural, and give them plural verbs and plural possessives. Either of these, for example ...

. A complainant faces many hurdles when he or she decides to take his or her case to the Ombudsman.

. A complainant faces many hurdles when they decide to take their case to the Ombudsman.

... would be better expressed as:

. Complainants face many hurdles when they decide to take a case to the Ombudsman.

Is it really necessary to use Latin or a legal phrase? If you can avoid them, do. Most people do not understand them.

Avoid using Latin words and phrases (although words such as 'ibid' in footnotes are useful) and avoid using legal language as much as possible. Councils might understand it, but what about complainants, media or researchers – or even other staff?

avoid meaning ad hoc for this purpose or occasion ceteris paribus other things being equal cf (conferre) compare circa about de minimis trivialities, small amounts eg (exempli gratia) such as, for example etc (et cetera) and so on, and the rest ex gratia out of kindness (no legal obligation) ef officio by virtue of the office held ibid (ibidem) in the same place, book (and so on) ie (id est) that is inter alia/alios among other things/people modus operandi way of working, method op cit (opus citatum) work quoted per se as such, by or in itself, essentially pp (per procurationem) on behalf of, by the agency of pro forma a form sic thus! (drawing notice to error) viz (videlicet) namely vs (versus) v. versus, against avoid meaning vs (vida supra) see above

Names

Do not use colours as pseudonyms.

You should normally draft a report in a way that does not disclose the identity of persons referred to in the report. You should therefore use pseudonyms, and you should check them with the complainant.

As a change from the usual trees, some ideas you could use might include:

. directions (North, South, East, West)

. materials (Brick, Stone, Wood, Glass)

. makes of car (Austin, Morris, Jowett, Humber, Hillman, Singer etc), or

. classic authors (Austen, Thackray, Hardy, Eliot, Dickens etc).

… but do not use colours (for equality and diversity reasons).

It is also not a good idea to use joke names (for example, in a complaint about neighbour nuisance, don’t use Campbell and McDonald for the names of the complainant and their neighbour).

Dates

Write dates in the format 3 January 2000 (no commas or rd etc).

Write 2008/09 for financial or academic years (ie use a forward slash).

For 1999/2000 include all the numerals where possible (ie avoid 1999/00).

Numbers Type numbers up to nine as words, and higher numbers in figures – but if you type a lot of numbers in the same text you should use either all words or all figures, not a mixture of both.

Use a comma in numbers of 1,000 or more.

Avoid starting sentence with a number: if you cannot avoid it then type it in words, not in figures.

Always type money in figures, for example:

. 55p

. £12

. £1,917.25

Where you put currency figures in a table, use the decimal tab facility.

Avoid the use of fractions if possible, and use decimals instead. If you must use them, put fractions in words, for example ‘two-and-a-half weeks’, when the fraction is below ten. Type fractions over ten as a figure, for example 12½ weeks, 15¼, 53¾ days, etc. Use the Ctrl key and space key to ensure that fractions and words are not separated at the end of a line (ie 12½ weeks).

Units of measurement

When writing measurements (metric or imperial) you should use the same unit of measurement used by the complainant (for example, feet or metres). Always type the measurement in figures followed by the word describing the measurement, ie 23 feet, 5 metres, 7 inches, 8 yards. You should use a consistent style throughout the document.

Press the Ctrl key and space key between the words to ensure that figures and words are not separated at the end of a line (ie 23 feet).

Lists

Use lists to put over multiple points.

Lists are a boon for making things clear to readers – especially when trying to get across a number of different points. Use them at every opportunity, but never mix list styles in a single document. Be consistent. All lists in one document must follow the same pattern.

Use either bullet points or (a), (b), (c) as you consider appropriate. When items in a list follow on grammatically from the introductory statement, you should:

. use lower case for the initial letter of each item

. follow the penultimate item with a comma followed by and or or, and

. only use a full stop after the last item.

Always make sure each point follows logically from the introduction. Each bulleted point should make a sentence with the introduction even if the other points were not there. When the bulleted items are very short, for example single words, no punctuation is needed at all (as is the case with some of the lists in this document).

When the items are complete, independent sentences (or paragraphs), different rules apply.

. You must start each item with a capital letter.

. You must end each item with a full stop.

Singular and plural

You should treat group words such as council, commission, committee, group, housing association, company etc as singular nouns. For example, the council has decided to change its policy.