When you write at work, you're representing Surrey County Council rather than yourself, so you need to use our house style. We all have our own individual styles but we're a single organisation and we want to present a single consistent communication style.
You need to use house style for all your communications, whether they're aimed at the public or colleagues in the council.
This includes:
Our house style is based on plain English principles so that our communications are accessible to as many people as possible.
This means writing with the reader in mind, whoever they may be, and not clouding our messages with jargon about our organisational structures and processes.
It also means being consistent by following our recommended formats for names, numbers, times and so on.
We have examples of the main aspects of plain English here and you can refer to the Plain English Campaign website for extra support.
The Local Government Improvement and Development Agency's website is also a good source of advice as it has information about plain English specifically in the context of local government.
If you have any suggestions for improving the guidelines or tips to share, please get in touch. Contact Internal Communications via Lotus Notes email.
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