Ministers urged to tackle jargon

MSPs recognised the jargon issue was being tackled

A Holyrood committee has urged Scottish ministers to cut down on jargon.

The parliament's local government committee said the move would improve public understanding.

The call came in a report into the process for dealing with big planning projects, deemed to be in the public interest.

It went on to call on the government to publish an "assessment matrix of candidate national developments against the national development criteria".

Recommendation number 20 in the report into the national planning framework urged ministers to use "clear, jargon-free language" in future documents on the subject to ensure the reader was well informed about key issues.

COMMON JARGON USED IN AND AROUND HOLYROOD Stakeholder: A person or group who can be affected by another organisation's actions Panacea: One solution to solve a series of problems Coterminosity: An issue meeting at a shared limit Cross-cutting: An issue affecting multiple issues or departments

In recommendation 24, it stated: "The committee recommends that the Scottish Government should publish, in future, an assessment matrix of candidate national developments against the national development criteria."

MSPs on the committee recognised planning was a difficult subject to simplify, and said the latest document was more accessible than previous publications.

The report added: "There is still room for improvement, particularly in the use of language, which will help improve understanding and potentially also improve public engagement if there is a greater understanding of what the framework actually means to individuals."

MSPs also recommended ministers should spell out how they plan to pay for major national construction projects and provide a timetable for delivering them.