FOI - GLA Language Guide [Nov 2022]

Your request 

1. Is there a current style guide or language guide produced by the council for use by council officers and councillors?
2. If there isn’t a current guide, whether there has been a style guide or language guide produced in the last three financial years, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22?
3. If these guides exist, please provide them to me.
4. If possible, can you also provide information on the cost of producing any such guides for the past three financial years, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 plus the current one, 2022-23?

Our response

There is a current language guide which was produced by the GLA for use by GLA staff, ‘The Language of City Hall’ (March 2022). Please find a copy attached a copy. Also attached is a copy of the ‘Inclusive Language Guide’ mentioned in 'The Language of City Hall'.

‘The Language of City Hall’ was produced internally and the we do not hold information on the staff time and costs. There are no additional costs associated.

Please note that some names of members of staff are exempt from disclosure under section 40 (2) (Personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act. This information would identify specific employees and as such constitutes as personal data which is defined by Article 4(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual. It is considered that disclosure of this information would contravene the first data protection principle under Article 5(1) of GDPR which states that personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA011122-2406.