A MONTHLY magazine aimed at senior staff working in the Scottish public sector – including the NHS, local government and Quangos – has been folded into its UK-wide sister publication, after 22 issues.
Public Servant Scotland was going out to 6,000 recipients ahead of plans to extend its paid-for subscription service.
But in a statement, its publishers said: “A decision has been taken to incorporate Scotland’s public sector leadership monthly Public Servant Scotland into the UK-wide Public Servant magazine and its publicservice.co.uk website will continue to serve Scotland.”
The statement added: “Editor Maureen Ferrier, columnist Richard Kerley and other regulars will continue to write with a Scottish perspective on public services and politics in the UK edition and online, and publisher PSCA International Ltd will retain its successful Edinburgh base for its other publishing and events activities in Scotland. This base is set for substantial growth during the year as the company continues to invest in Scotland.”
The magazine’s full-time staff comprised Ferrier and reporter, Hamish Hutchinson. The magazine was slightly larger than A4 in size and usually comprised 32 pages.
Also among the mailing list were MPs, MSPs and local authority councillors. Until three years ago, Ferrier was Head of Communications at the Scottish Funding Council, following several years at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and had brought a wealth of experience in the public sector – including the Scottish Office and the Ministry of Defence – to the post.
But the magazine clearly could not overcome the recession in advertising.
