How about putting it in plain English?

He has written a letter to every headteacher and chair of governors in the town imploring them to follow correct procedures in their dealings with the council.

But the directive, labelled "being helpful and doing things properly", has left recipients scratching their heads.

Today the Campaign for Plain English says the letter is so confusing it is entering it for the Oscars of gobbledegook, the Golden Bull Awards.

In one paragraph in the letter, Mr Doherty, the council's chief executive and acting chief education officer, states: ". . . it is clear to me that our historic practices of 'being helpful' have sometimes led to confusion about 'doing things properly'. As a result, many schools are no longer clear about what is and what isn't the proper way of doing things."

John Lister, from the Campaign for Plain English, said: "It is quite a strange one because we get the funny feeling there are two meanings to this letter. The tone reminds me very much of when the nice man comes around to your shop and offers you protection.

"It seems to be almost a new kind of gobbledegook. It looks like good English with short sentences and it is quite direct but it is not quite clear what he is really saying.

"We have a rule of thumb that the more times somebody says they are making something clear, they are usually doing the exact opposite."

Andrew Nye, chairman of the Swindon Association of Primary Headteachers, said he had received more than 20 calls from other heads asking what the letter meant.

He said: "I do understand what he is getting at, but that's because I was party to discussion about the letter.

"I am wholly in favour of the principle behind it, because all sorts of things have been going on in Swindon in an unofficial way over the last five years.

"We are not talking about a corrupt empire, but there has been a broad feeling that if people lobby, they can get things done.

"In Paul Doherty's defence, he wasn't able to use specific examples, so in writing this letter, he was faced with either sounding rather insensitive or rather oblique."

Chairman of governors at Ridgeway School, Chris Gale, admitted to being "extremely puzzled" by the letter.

Ms Gale, who is also the chairman of the National Governors Council, said: "It was a source of some mystery. I am sure we shall all get on a lot better if we do things properly."

And chairman of the Association of Swindon Governors Richard Millard said: "The letter is about making sure that we establish a policy framework which is full of policies that are going to be applied transparently and fairly so everybody can see what's happening and why.

"I know that because I've spoken to Paul, but I do agree that it's not as clear as it could be to everybody that is reading it."

Mr Doherty declined an interview on the subject, but issued a statement via the council's press office.

It read: "This is an internal letter which was discussed in draft with the chairs of the three head teachers' associations and with the chair of the Association of Swindon Governors. It was sent out with their full support."

www.plainenglish.co.uk