THE board of Scotland’s top heritage body is investigating numerous dossiers of alleged corruption within the public organisation, MSPs have been told.
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) – which looks after famed Scottish historical sites including Edinburgh Castle and Elgin Cathedral – has been under intense public scrutiny amid a series of damning revelations about its leadership, including that its chief operating officer was found to have used racist language.
On Monday this week, Stephen Boyle, the auditor general for Scotland, said he would publish a “Section 22” report into HES – a rare step taken due to “weaknesses in governance and financial management” at the body, as well as concerns that it “operated without an Accountable Officer for an extended period”.
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The same day, papers for Holyrood’s Culture Committee were made public and revealed that five separate dossiers – each named “HES Corruption Volume [number]” – had been sent to Scottish ministers, the HES board, and Audit Scotland between July and September 2025.
In June, a separate sixth dossier alleging "financial/procurement improprieties involving HES director” was also circulated to the body’s sponsorship team.
On Thursday, HES chair Mark Jones and board member Andrew Davis were grilled on the issues at the public body by Holyrood’s Culture Committee.
Tory MSP Stephen Kerr described the need for a Section 22 report from Audit Scotland as a “mayday signal” that the “public body is broken”, and asked if there was an investigation into the corruption allegations.
Jones and Davis confirmed that an investigation had been opened, was ongoing, and was taking into its scope all of the dossiers alleging corruption and “improprieties”.
Asked how many senior staff at HES were currently suspended, Jones said the number was two. He said he did not want to “prejudge” any investigations, but added: “It would surprise me if nobody left the organisation over the next few months.”
Asked about “dog-fighting” within HES, Jones said he agreed there was an issue, but resisted calls to immediately launch a full probe into the culture at the body.
He said: “We have a limited resource and we have to devote that resource fully to the Section 22 investigation, and then I think that we almost certainly need to move on to another stage, which also needs to be independent, which will, I expect, look at ways in which HES can really make a fresh start, both in terms of the way that it's structured and in the terms, in terms of the behaviours that it exhibits.”
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Jones further refused to confirm reports that HES chief executive Katerina Brown had been suspended, saying only that she was “currently working on the conclusion of the accounts for this year”.
However, Brown is also HES’s Accountable Officer – a nominated person who is accountable to the Scottish Parliament for the body’s action – and Kerr noted that the auditor general has raised concerns there had been an “extended period” without HES having one.
Green MSP Patrick Harvie raised reports that the University of Glasgow had ended a partnership with HES after The Sunday National reported on chief operating director Craig Mearns having called Indian visitors to Edinburgh Castle “chocolates”.
Jones argued that HES had a “zero tolerance” approach to racism.
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Harvie responded: “Zero tolerance to me would mean that those who have been found to have expressed racist views or attitudes would no longer have a role in the organisation. Is that your understanding of what the phrase zero tolerance means?”
“No, that's not my understanding,” Jones said. “My understanding is that what it means is that wherever it's encountered, it will be dealt with appropriately.”
Elsewhere, Davis said that HES was in a broadly stable financial position, with commercial income up 9% year on year, and expenditure up 7%.
However, he also said that the HES board had not held a single meeting with Culture Secretary Angus Robertson in the past four years.
Jones – who took on the post of HES chair in September – said that the “media storm” around the body in recent months had been “undoubtedly disturbing to everyone who works there”.
