THE Scottish Government must intervene in a racism row engulfing the country’s heritage body, an employee has said.
A member of staff at Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has written to the country’s top civil servant asking him to “tackle” accusations of racism against the organisation’s director of operations Craig Mearns.
In an email sent to Joe Griffin, head of the Scottish Government civil service, the anonymous employee said: "A senior director was found to be using racist language to describe visitors to our country and the CEO of HES declined to see this as gross misconduct.
“Neither have any place in public service clearly and for no response to be forthcoming is deeply worrying.
“As the head of the civil service I would urge you not to defer to others but to show leadership and tackle this matter head on.”
We revealed previously how Mearns kept his job despite a complaint against his “racist” language being upheld.
During an investigation, Mearns admitted to last year having pointed out a group of tourists to other senior members of HES staff and telling them to “look at those chocolates”.
It is believed that an argument mounted in Mearns’s defence was that “chocolates” was Navy slang for people of colour. The HES director had a 30-year career in the Navy, ending up as captain of the Faslane nuclear base.
HES’s chief executive Katerina Brown, who is understood to be on leave, was appointed in September 2024, before investigation into Mearns’s comments had been concluded.
Mearns is paid between £115,000 and 120,000 per year, including pension benefits, according to HES’s most recent annual report for 2023-24, with the heritage body telling MSPs earlier this month that directors got a pay rise of between 16% and 18% in April 2024.
Our source added: “We must be better than this – my friends and colleagues from ethnic backgrounds are waiting to be supported – today they feel that all of our words on such issues are hollow ones.
“The most senior staff at HES have failed them miserably – please ensure the civil service does not.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "There is no place in Scotland for hatred of any kind, and each of us has a responsibility to confront racism.
"We are aware of issues that have been raised regarding the leadership and governance of Historic Environment Scotland.
"We are working closely with the organisation to resolve these and avoid disruption to its operational activity."
A spokesperson for HES said: "We do not comment on individual personnel matters. Historic Environment Scotland is committed to maintaining a respectful, inclusive, and safe working environment for all staff and visitors.
"We take any concerns raised seriously and have robust policies and procedures in place to ensure they are appropriately addressed."
