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Good practice Imported

Direct Duidelijk — The Netherlands' Government-Wide Plain-Language Writing Coach Programme

Netherlands · The Hague · See the Netherlands profile · See the The Hague profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 30% 88/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Dutch national programme placing 'writing coach' teams in government bodies to rewrite bureaucratic text in plain language. 20,000+ texts improved since 2018, though independent monitoring found many municipal debt letters still too complex for low-literacy readers.

20,000+
Government texts improved (by October 2020)
38%
Municipal debt-assistance texts reaching simplest comprehension level (2021)
62%
Municipal debt-assistance texts too difficult for low-literacy readers (2021)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Direct Duidelijk Brigade / Netwerk Begrijpelijke Overheid, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
Period
2018–present
Region (NUTS)
NL
Keywords
public administration, plain language, digital government, cognitive accessibility

Context

Direct Duidelijk ('Straight to the Point') is a Dutch government programme launched in 2018 by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations' Netwerk Begrijpelijke Overheid, placing trained 'writing coaches' inside government bodies to rewrite bureaucratic text in plain language.

Objectives

To make government letters, forms and web content understandable, especially for low-literacy readers, across every tier of Dutch government.

Activities

A team of writing coaches — the 'Direct Duidelijk Brigade' — works directly with civil servants across municipalities, provinces, water authorities and central government, running workshops, checklists and a shared writing guide, including a multi-year 'letter challenge' with the employee-insurance agency UWV.

Results

By October 2020 the brigade had helped improve more than 20,000 government texts. A 2021 government-commissioned monitor study of 140 texts from 14 municipalities aimed at residents in debt-assistance programmes found only 38% reached the simplest comprehension level, and language was too difficult for low-literacy readers in 62% of cases.

Conclusions

The 2021 finding is a caution rather than a failure: even a national programme that has touched tens of thousands of texts across every government tier still needs years of sustained, measured effort before comprehension gaps for the most vulnerable readers close.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — A staffing-led programme (writing coaches, workshops, shared guidance) rather than a technology build — moderate ongoing cost from embedding coaches across national, provincial and municipal government.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Running continuously since 2018; the cited monitor study covers 2021, three years into the programme.
Staffing & skills
Direct Duidelijk Brigade — trained writing coaches embedded in government bodies, Netwerk Begrijpelijke Overheid, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

Conditions for success

  • Embedding coaches directly with civil servants rather than issuing guidance alone
  • Shared checklists and a common writing guide across all government tiers
  • Building independent monitoring (the 2021 study) into the programme rather than relying on self-reported success

Common failure modes

  • The 2021 monitor study found most sampled debt-assistance texts still too complex for low-literacy readers (62%), showing coaching alone has not closed the comprehension gap for the most vulnerable readers

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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