Angus Robertson: 'Earlier intervention would not have saved leadership chaos at heritage quango'
Angus Robertson was questioned over ministerial involvement in Historic Environment Scotland
The culture secretary has defended his decision not to intervene sooner in the leadership chaos that destabilised a heritage quango.
Angus Robertson has said ministerial engagement at an earlier stage would not have avoided the multiple governance and procurement issues revealed at Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
As revealed in The Scotsman, HES has been hit with criticisms around leadership stability, organisational culture, procurement practices, the behaviour of its former chair and current CEO.
Stephen Kerr, Scottish Conservative MSP, has now quizzed the minister over what was known and when.
In a written response to Mr Kerr, Mr Robertson also admits there are currently no plans to change government oversight of quangos in light of the failings at HES.
Asked by Mr Kerr whether he accepted that earlier and more direct ministerial engagement could have mitigated the scale of the failures at HES, Mr Robertson said “No”.
“The majority of issues identified by Audit Scotland were operational matters for HES to address and which had been flagged to Scottish Government officials by the HES CEO in December 2024,” he added.
The minister said he did not meet with the chair because it would have been outwith normal protocol.
Mr Robertson added: “A formal grievance was raised against the Chair by the CEO on March 27, 2025, at which point it was felt that any meetings with the chair while the grievance was investigated would not be appropriate.”
Mr Kerr said: “The Cabinet Secretary’s own response confirms that he was informed in December 2024 of serious concerns about leadership stability, organisational culture, procurement practices and the behaviour of the chair at HES.
“Yet he also admits that he never even considered exercising his powers over the Chair’s tenure.
“That is not leadership, it is prevarication.”
Asked what lessons the cabinet secretary had learned about the balance between “operational independence and ministerial accountability”, he said the onus is on the quango to act correctly.
He replied: “Regarding HES, I remain assured that the external review into the organisation and culture at Historic Environment Scotland currently underway, alongside the work of the new chair, will see positive changes within the organisation.”
HES moved to an “amber risk” and then “red risk” in 2025 with Mr Kerr asked what additional ministerial actions were triggered.
Mr Robertson said the HES board had “almost daily” contact from civil servants and officials attended all board meetings.
Questioned as to whether Mr Robertson had considered putting HES into a form of special measures, the minister responded: “The Sponsorship team were attending all board meetings, an interim Chief Operating Officer was appointed by HES and I appointed two new interim board members.”
The Scotsman told last year how whistleblowers had warned the heritage body was “at risk of collapse” as Scotland’s Auditor General found “unacceptable weaknesses” at HES.
His report followed revelations in The Scotsman of an internal sexual harassment row and the inappropriate behaviour of a director who twerked in front of actor Martin Compston at a corporate event.
HES is responsible for the care of more than 300 heritage sites, including Edinburgh Castle.
Mr Kerr added: “The Cabinet Secretary now says that meeting the chair would have been unusual and outside normal protocol.
“That is an extraordinary admission.
“The Scottish Government had early warning that there were governance problems at HES, but the Cabinet Secretary’s approach was simply to stand back and allow matters to unfold.
“When governance failures emerge in a national public body responsible for safeguarding Scotland’s historic environment and administering substantial public funds, ministers cannot simply shrug and say it is someone else’s responsibility.”
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