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Two other
authorities also received awards: The National Board of Health and Welfare and
The Swedish National Tax Board.
In 2001, the
Minister for Democratic Issues, Public Administration and Consumer Policies
awarded the Crystal to the local authority of Borås.
The winner of 2000
was Margareta Ringqvist, at the The Swedish Agency for Administrative
Development, who got the award thanks to a report written in an exceptionally
clear way.
The
authorities
More
than half of all Swedish government authorities are currently involved in plain
language projects. Eight years ago, most of the authorities were not involved
in any plain language work at all. The interest in plain language is growing
day by day.
In 1999, the Plain
Swedish Group sent a questionnaire to 116 government authorities. The result
showed that the authorities had become more interested in plain language. 60 %
of the authorities had been involved in plain language projects during the
previous two years and 70 % declared that they were planning for future plain
language projects. 80 % of the respondents had participated in seminars
arranged by the Plain Swedish Group, revised their standard phrases, bought
style guides and other language handbooks. 60 % had occasionally engaged a
plain language consultant. The figures speak for themselves. In 1994, by
comparison, 62 % of the authorities were not involved in any plain language
work at all, and 65 % felt no need to participate in plain language
projects.
Better service to the
public
Most of the
authorities say that the motivation for their plain language work is to improve
the service to the public. The interest in the Plain Swedish for everyone
seminar of 2002, where 140 representatives from authorities all over Sweden
participated, also proves this.
Important
inspiration
In
1999, 90 % of the authorities thought that the Plain Swedish Group was
important for the plain language work. Some of them wrote: "It is very
important that the Government offices stand up for plain language" and "The
inspiring seminars are of great value."
90 % of them
regularly read the Plain Language Bulletin, the group's
newsletter. |
