Maureen Ferrier

Maureen Ferrier has been the editor of the magazine Public Service Scotland since 2008. From 1994 to 2001 she was Press Officer and then Public Affairs Officer for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). In 1999 Ferrier was a member of the lobbyist lobby group the Association of Scottish Public Affairs, writing to the press on its behalf.

In 2001 Ferrier took redundancy from COSLA in order to go freelance. She then set up Maureen Ferrier Public Relations, a short lived PR firm. By 2005 she was the spokesperson for the Scottish Funding Council From 2008 she has been the editor of the magazine Public Service Scotland.

Teachers dispute 1999

Ferrier wrote to the Herald in 1999 to deny reports that COSLA was to hire a PR firm in its dispute with the teachers:

I SHOULD like to lay to rest the fears of your correspondents today who are perpetrating the myth that Cosla is employing the services of a public relations consultancy. This is certainly not the case nor do we have any plans to use a public relations consultancy in relation to the offer on pay and conditions of service for teachers currently on the table.

Our wish in this matter is that teachers read the offer carefully and reach their own conclusions on its meaning for the future of their profession and the future of children in Scottish schools now and into the millennium. To that end we are in the process of issuing information which will be with teachers within days. In the meantime, teachers - and anyone else who is interested - will find details of the offer on Cosla's website at www.cosla.gov.uk.

David Liddell the Secretery of the South Lanarkshire branch of the EIS responded:

AS one of the correspondents taken to task by Maureen Ferrier, Cosla's Public Affairs Officer, for "perpetrating the myth" (although I think "perpetuating might better have conveyed the intended meaning) that Cosla was employing the services of a public relations consultancy to sell their offer to teachers over the heads of their unions, I am happy to hear that this is "certainly not the case".

I assume then that the glossy leaflet currently being sent by Cosla to all teachers, containing as many warm words and cosy reassurances as the average Bupa advertisement, has been produced entirely "in-house".

Somewhat bizarrely, on the Cosla Website, its text is accompanied by what appears to be a briefing paper for what might euphemistically be described as "busy" education conveners on what "spin" to put on the offer and how to answer awkward questions.

As it seems Maureen reads the letter page of The Herald, perhaps she might like to answer the question which is troubling many EIS members, which is "How can Cosla justify spending what must be a substantial amount of public money on attempting to influence the outcome of an internal trade union ballot?"

She writes loftily that Cosla's "wish in this matter is that teachers read the offer carefully and reach their own conclusions on its meaning for the future of their profession", and in the next sentence, "To that end we are in the process of issuing information (ie, the glossy leaflet) which will be with teachers within days". I detect a bit of a contradiction here.

Readers, including Maureen, might care to contemplate what response other than an angry one any trade-union member could be expected to make to employers whose cynical final position can succinctly and accurately be summed up as "Accept our offer or we take away the negotiating machinery". Teachers "know a hawk from a handsaw" and no amount of "spinning" or oily ingratiating "puff" about how valued and important teachers are will make this sow's ear of an offer into anything remotely resembling a silk purse.

Affiliations

• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities 1994-2001
• Maureen Ferrier Public Relations circa 2002-2005
• Scottish Funding Council circa 2005 - former head of communications
• Public Service Scotland from 2008 - editor. This is a publication launched in 2008 by PSCA International that carries news about the public sector in Scotland.