Chief of Scotland’s scandal-hit heritage body resigns after less than a year

Sir Mark Jones is stepping down as chairman of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) just nine months into a four-year tenure.

The chairman of Scotland’s scandal-hit heritage body has resigned less than a year into the role. Sir Mark Jones is stepping down as chairman of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) just nine months into a four-year tenure.

The quango, responsible for hundreds of historic properties, including Edinburgh Castle, has been rocked by a series of controversies in recent years.

Last year, it was reported a senior leader at the organisation was sanctioned for allegedly “twerking” in front of actor Martin Compston. The Press Association asked the actor about the incident at the time but he refused to be drawn.

The body also faced allegations of corruption and an internal racism row. Meanwhile, a report by the auditor general in 2025 found it had “unacceptable weaknesses” in leadership.

It said HES lacked “sufficiently robust policies” in place to mitigate the risk of fraud. The controversies led to both its chairman and chief executive being replaced in 2025.

The public body is looking for a new chair again after announcing Sir Mark was stepping down.

HES said: “Sir Mark Jones remains chair of Historic Environment Scotland and will continue in the role until a successor is appointed to ensure a smooth handover. We are grateful for Sir Mark’s leadership and commitment to HES during a challenging period for the organisation.”

Responding to Audit Scotland’s report last year, Sir Mark had said he accepted the “serious governance issues and cultural problems identified”.

He spoke about the “impact of recent leadership instability” – with the report claiming it is “unacceptable” that the organisation operated without an accountable officer for almost six months, between May 2 and October 20 last year, when chief executive Katerina Brown returned to work.

Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservative culture spokesman, said: “The chairman’s premature resignation is further evidence of the SNP’s chronic mismanagement of this toxic quango.

“Historic Environment Scotland has spent years mired in scandal and crisis while the former culture secretary, Angus Robertson, was asleep at the wheel, failing to engage with the board and misleading parliament about his supervision of the organisation.

“Now the man brought in by the SNP to sort out the bullying and grotesque misuse of funds has thrown in the towel after barely a year in the post.

“Sir Mark Jones has a distinguished record but he has clearly not received the support from ministers that the SNP government promised.

“HES receives more than £70million worth of taxpayers’ money every year, so nationalist ministers must sort out this mess immediately.”

Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan said: “The Scottish Government is grateful to Sir Mark for his service. During a period of significant scrutiny and change, he has provided strong leadership. We appreciate his commitment and the valuable contribution he has made.”