Historic Environment Scotland: Auditor General's fraud warning shows why we need bonfire of the quangos

According to a new audit, the quango Historic Environment Scotland has more than 400 ‘electronic purchasing cards’ and a staggering one in four members of staff has one. In 2024-25, those cards were used to spend £1.9 million of taxpayers’ money.

It may be that these funds were well spent, but only eight per cent of purchases were the subject of compliance checks so it’s hard to tell.

Auditor General Stephen Boyle’s audit report described “unacceptable weaknesses in HES’s governance arrangements” and warned of the critical need for “strong controls” to be put in place “to prevent the risk of fraud and demonstrate that value for money is being achieved”. Indeed.

READ MORE: Pressure mounts for Government inquiry into 'internal civil war' at crisis-hit Historic Environment Scotland

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for Edinburgh Castle and many other important buildings and sites (Picture: Jane Barlow) | PA

State-funded leaving-do

Boyle highlighted a dinner for 11 people attended by some board members in November 2024 “to mark the departure of one of its members”. An expenses invoice was submitted for £875 for a meal priced at £35 per head – £385 in total – “with most of the remainder being from the purchase of alcohol”.

After a review by HES’s chief executive, it was decided that the public would only pay for the food. Some may question the need for any state-funding of leaving-dos.

A quango is designed to be a non-political body, at ‘arms-length’ from political control, that makes decisions in a fair and impartial way. The revelations about the behaviour of some HES staff over the past few months have underlined what can happen when arms-length becomes out of reach and quangos think they are untouchable.

READ MORE: Historic Environment Scotland director investigated for procurement concerns over £100,000 worth of contracts

As the Auditor General makes clear, there is an urgent need to restore good governance to and public confidence in the body responsible for some of the most historic buildings in Scotland.

However, this really should be a wake-up call about all quangos. Sooner or later, they all have a tendency to become the private fiefdoms of those in charge.

Some are necessary and should be independent. But, as soon as is reasonable, HES and others should be brought under direct government control, for the sake of the savings that this would bring, but also so that ministers can be held to account for every single penny spent in our name.

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