The draft decision template has been set up in a specific way to ensure that all our decision statements are produced in the same format and that they transfer onto the web in a consistent way.

Some dos and don’ts:

• The summary should consist of one paragraph only. Do not use paragraph breaks.
• Do not use bullets in the summary.
• Do not use the font tab in the Word banner to edit how your text looks, apart from where you need to use italics where you can either use the I button or press Ctrl I. 
• Do not use the bullet creation buttons in the Word banner to create bullets, lettered bullets or numbered bullets. If you want to create bullets, use the tab key on your keyboard or the ‘Increase indent’ button on the Word banner. If you want to create lettered bullets, either press the tab key or ‘increase indent’ button twice, or select ‘LGO lettered bullets’ from the style template.
• If you find that a paragraph does not have a paragraph number to it, select the LGO normal text style and this will create the paragraph number for you.
• If you need to use both types of bullets in one paragraph, they should be used in the following order – lettered bullets, followed by standard bullets. For example:
  • If you need to make a piece of text into a sub-heading or sub sub-heading, do so from the style template. Do not use sub sub-headings before sub-headings.
• You can insert block quotes into a decision statement. You should ensure the text is indented, without any bullets or numbering (you can use the bullet creation banner to remove any bullets or numbering), that it is in italics and is in inverted commas. For example:
  • “40 Closure of noisy premises
  • (1) The chief executive officer of the relevant local authority may make a closure order in relation to premises to which this section applies if he reasonably believes that— 
  • (a) a public nuisance is being caused by noise coming from the premises, and
  • (b)the closure of the premises is necessary to prevent that nuisance. 

(2) This section applies to premises if— 

(a) a premises licence has effect in respect of them, or 

(b) a temporary event notice has effect in respect of them.”

• If part of a paragraph appears on one page, and the rest on the next page, highlight the relevant text and use the ‘keep lines together’ option in the paragraph format box to keep the paragraph on one page
• f, when you are typing the summary or a paragraph, the complainant’s title and initial end up on separate line, use a soft space to keep them together. To do this, delete the space between the two words you want to keep together, then (with your cursor at the point you want a space to appear) press Ctrl+Shift+Space bar at the same time. This means a paragraph break is not created so will not affect how the published document appears. 

Removing the watermark. 

• Go to page layout and click the small arrow on watermark
• Click on remove watermark

You can use tables in your decision statements. However, you should not amend the margins of the document to fit extra columns or rows in.

If the signature line appears on a page on its own, use the ‘keep with next’ option in the paragraph format box to ensure the last paragraph and the signature line stay together.