Lord Mandelson 'scoops' Foot in Mouth prize in 30th Plain English Campaign awards

The Plain English Campaign has named its annual Plain English and 'Golden Bull' winners, marking 30 years of campaigning against jargon.

Lord Peter Mandelson has been 'awarded' the notorious 'Foot in Mouth' award for his comment on the investigations into the MPs' expenses: "Perhaps we need not more people looking round more corners but the same people looking round more corners more thoroughly to avoid the small things detracting from the big things the Prime Minister is getting right."

Prouder winners of Plain English awards will include Current TV (international media award), the Daily Telegraph (best national newspaper), the Birmingham Mail (best regional newspaper) and BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat (best national radio).

The winners will receives their prizes from comedian Lenny Henry at a ceremony this afternoon.

Also in celebration of Plain English Day (8 December), the organisation will be shredding documents alongside MPs and local councillors.

It serves as a reminder of the actions of its founder, Chrissie Maher OBE, who publicly shredded hundreds of official documents in London's Parliament Square in 1979.

The winners in full:

Media awards 2009

Web award
Financial Ombudsman Service for the clearest website: The official independent expert in settling complaints between consumers and businesses providing financial services. Without our involvement, their website meets most of our criteria with a site that is accessible and provides clarity on how to deal with a variety of financial problems.

International Media award
Current TV USA: Operating in US, UK and Italy on cable TV, Current TV is an independent media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. It is largely managed by young people to report and present current affairs in a way that is appropriate for an audience of young people.

Best national newspaper
The Daily Telegraph: As 'Britain's best-selling quality daily', the Telegraph has much to praise about it, and its simple, straightforward style of communication is certainly one aspect of this. It presents its news and information clearly and attractively, without resorting to using jargon and long, complex terms and phrases.

Best regional newspaper
Birmingham Mail: A good regional newspaper will always have the local community at the heart of its work, and the Birmingham Mail demonstrates this more than most. Its clean, concise writing, its visually appealing layout and its use of good headlines and white space all make for a newspaper which is interesting, engaging and, above all, enjoyable to read.

Best national television
ITV News at Ten: With over 40 years of programming, News at Ten continues to use its vast broadcasting experience to provide high-quality, clear and honest news coverage. The reporting is passionate and inquisitive and has depth, but is concise and easy to understand, often using graphics and visuals to aid clarity.

Best regional television
BBC North West Tonight: This regional programme provides news which is both relevant and important to the local population. The presenters and reporters are professional and knowledgeable and explain things clearly to their viewers. As well as its regional content, the programme covers national and international stories, but expertly tailors them to a north-west audience. Having won the Royal Television Society‟s award for Best Regional News Programme in 2008, it's clear that North West Tonight is clearly hitting the right note with viewers and commentators alike.

Best national radio
BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat: Newsbeat has been setting trends in news reporting for over 35 years, and today its fresh and engaging content is arguably better than ever. It never loses sight of its young audience, using innovative sound and production techniques to report the news in a clear, engaging and uncomplicated way.

Best regional radio
Belfast Citybeat: An award-winning station for years, CityBeat is an excellent example of local radio appealing to a local audience. With over 140,000 listeners each week, the station's popularity comes from its great mix of topical discussion and music, and local news, all presented in a style which is straightforward, simple and entertaining.

Chrissie Maher 30th anniversary award
Irish Life: For outstanding commitment to clarity and honesty in an organisation's public communications.

Plain English Communicator 2009
Ashbourne Radio: For clear, spoken public communications from an individual or organisation.

Plain English awards 2009
Multiple Sclerosis Society – book, 'Shrinking the Monster'
Reclaim project – young people's manifestos Royal British Legion – fund-raising information
Liverpool Health Promotion Service – leaflet
'The Menopause' Food Standards Agency – leaflet on listeria, 'If you're over 60…'
Samaritans – leaflet for young people, 'Who are the Samaritans?'
World Cancer Research Fund – leaflet on breast cancer
PharmacyHealthLink – leaflet, 'Healthy Planet, Healthy You'

Plain English diplomas 2009
Jane Jephson, Independent Living Fund
Sandra Barber, Staffordshire Housing Association Legal
Katrina Pollard, Legal Complaints Service
Gareth M James, DVLA
Tracey Chapman, Legal and General
Bernadine Goodey, Department of Health
Nicola Watson, Legal Complaints Service
Susan Barter, Two Rivers Housing
Christine Beer, AXA UK
Dee Hempstead, Financial Regulator
Linda Murphy, Cottsway Housing Association
Thom Hughes, Glasgow City Council
Joanne White, Devon County Council

Osborne Memorial award 2009
Citizens Advice: For 70 years of volunteers providing advice and explanations in plain English to members of the public.

And the...

Foot in Mouth award 2009
Lord Peter Mandelson: For his comment on the investigations into the MPs' expenses. "Perhaps we need not more people looking round more corners but the same people looking round more corners more thoroughly to avoid the small things detracting from the big things the Prime Minister is getting right."

Kick in the Pants award 2009
Metropolitan Police Service: For continuing use of jargon and gobbledygook in public information.

Pat on the Back award 2009
Scottish Police Federation (SPF): For their unanimous vote at the SPF 2009 Annual Conference to use of plain English throughout the force.

Golden Bull awards 2009...

UK Department of Health
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications

For information on their website about preventing disease. Primary secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention includes health promotion and requires action on the determinants of health to prevent disease occurring. It has been described as refocusing upstream to stop people falling in the waters of disease.

UK Patient Access to Electronic Records Limited
For the automated arrival system that replaces receptionists in the doctors' surgery. ... I arrive at my GP, only to be told that I haven't until I converse with a screen that invites me to 'Touch the screen to arrive'. My electronic check-in is completed by touching a virtual button labelled 'arrive me'.

UK Equity Red Star Insurance
For a customer's motor insurance schedule ANY ENDORSEMENT NUMBER SHOWN IN THIS SCHEDULE BUT NOT INCLUDED IN THE ENDORSEMENT APPENDIX SHALL BE DEEMED TO APPLY AND FORM PART OF THE APPENDIX THE ENDORSEMENTS BEARING SUCH NUMBER(S) BEING ATTACHED OR PREVIOUSLY APPLIED.

Republic of Ireland Dublin Airport Authority
For a 109-word clause on contractors' agreement. (c) Neither the execution and delivery by the Consultant of this Agreement nor the consummation by it of any of the transactions contemplated hereby, requires, with respect to it, the consent or approval of the giving of notice to, the registration with, the recording or filing of any document with, or the taking of any other action in respect of any government authority, except such as are not yet required (as to which it has no reason to believe that the same will not be readily obtainable in the ordinary course of business upon due application therefore) or which have been duly obtained and are in full force and effect.

UK LSIS (Learning and Skills Improvement Service)
For a consultation booklet 'Statement of strategic direction' sent to schools. The government calls insistently for more innovation. But doing things in a new way will not necessarily lead to better outcomes. So, what do we mean by innovation? We share the thinking of, for example, the Work Foundation, which sees innovation not 'as a set of discrete and singular moments of change' but rather as 'a culture or process in which drivers of change are embedded in and facilitated by the strategic outlook of the organisation.' To draw an analogy from nature, innovation may be thought of as 'the new season's growth' rather than a series of isolated 'bright ideas'.

USA Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service
For a tax form to be completed by suppliers outside of the US. W-8BEN Certificate of Foreign status of beneficial owner for United States Tax Withholding Hybrid entity – a hybrid entity is any person (other than an individual) that is treated as fiscally transparent in the US... Reverse hybrid entity – a reverse hybrid entity is any person (other than an individual) that is not fiscally transparent under US tax law principles... Fiscally transparent entity... Disregarded entity...

UK and Global Coca Cola Enterprises Ltd
For a letter to distributors about deliveries. To outsource some aspects of our Finance transactional processing activities... We will be transitioning certain transactional activities.... The goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible... There will be two primary impacts to your organisation... Does not impact your current terms... Aiming to minimise any disruption to our business, and we expect our performance levels to stabilise soon after the transition period.

UK and Global JMJ Associates
For a health and safety document for employees. Principles of Incident and Injury-free leadership Principle 4 IIF begins with a conversation for possibility In the domain of safety, we have found people often do not distinguish between the conversations for possibility and conversations for probability, two vastly different conversations that produce vastly different results. Conversations for probability are common in organizational life, and they help predict the future based on what has occurred in the past. Conversations for possibility are much less common and they help us create futures that we could not have predicted from the past, something 'making the impossible possible.' The language of probability owns the mind and the language of possibility owns the heart; once the heart has embraced what is possible, the mind will never see things the same again.

Principle 7 IIF leaders are Integrally informed IFF leaders see the world through multiple lenses, through the subjective domains of intentions, purposes, values and culture, and the objective domains of performance, measurement and results. Incident and Injury-Free Leaders understand intuitively that these domains are not in conflict but rather, they are mutually supportive; they are each facets of the one real world we live and work in. Principle 9 IIF is a journey, not a destination

Canada Balaclava Public School
For a letter to parents about making iced cup cakes.
Dear parent/Guardians, The Grade 7 Science classes are nearing the completion of the unit Pure Substances and Mixtures. In this unit, students have been introduced to the Particle Theory of Matter, and to some of the terminology related to the field of chemistry. They have also been given the opportunity to explore, and conduct experiments related to the properties of solutions and mechanical mixtures. At this time all students are encouraged to discuss with you the content and expectations of the culminating task along with how it will be assessed. This culminating task allows students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills that he/she has learned throughout the module. Although students are responsible to independently complete this task, we would very much appreciate your assistance for the experimenting component, as students require access to a kitchen and some ingredients to develop their own mixture. Thank you in advance for your interest and co-operation. Sincerely,

USA American Airlines Inc.
For a 'Property Irregularity Receipt'. An acknowledgement sent to a passenger that avoids the real problem of lost luggage.

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