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Excuse me, convener, but I was in the middle of a sentence.

I was just stressing how important it is for the committee to understand the day-to-day interaction between the sponsorship team and Historic Environment Scotland or, indeed, any sponsorship team and whatever non-departmental public body it is engaged with. That is the key interface when one is dealing with a day-to-day problem, and I think that it is really important for committee members to understand that such engagement is an almost daily occurrence. I would not want the impression to be created that the Scottish Government and its officials are not engaging with Historic Environment Scotland, that I am not being updated on progress and that I am not making decisions that are helping Historic Environment Scotland get into a better place. The facts and the timeline make absolutely clear that that is what is happening.

I would have to check the record, Mr Kerr.

I remember meeting him. We met in Falkirk, at the—

What sticks in my memory are the meetings that I had with the chief executive when she came into office. Frankly, those meetings were most instructive and important in understanding that, with new leadership in the chief executive’s office, there was an aspiration to continue with the significant financial and commercial improvements in Historic Environment Scotland.

I would not want Mr Kerr to not appreciate and understand that I have met the senior management of Historic Environment Scotland—I have done so. I could go on: there is a long list of meetings between my directors general and other senior officials in the Scottish Government and the senior management of Historic Environment Scotland.

I wish to give you the assurance that that is very much the focus of Historic Environment Scotland and our interest in supporting what it does. Indeed, as I alluded to earlier, I was at the headquarters of Historic Environment Scotland with its senior management and others as part of a strategic partnership to deliver on the “Our Past, Our Future” strategy, bringing together non-departmental and other organisations to deliver on exactly those issues, such has the challenge with skills.

You will be aware of—and I have already made mention of—the opening of lock 16 as a focus for skills in traditional crafts that are acutely in demand for Historic Environment Scotland and, in that case specifically, Canals Scotland. That is an example of where changes are happening and partnership working is taking place. Having had the good fortune to be part of the considerations yesterday, I attest that Historic Environment Scotland is seized of that. Partner organisations such as Skills Development Scotland and Young Scot were also part of the conversation, as were enterprise agencies. Others are part of the process, too.

Therefore, the first thing is to say we are very focused today, for obvious reasons, on the particular leadership issues in Historic Environment Scotland. However, I also want to put on record my appreciation for the excellent work that has been taking place within Historic Environment Scotland in relation to matters such as skills and in partnership working. That work perhaps receives less focus because we are dealing with a significant problem at present, but we should not lose sight of the fact that its day-to-day operations continue. What it does is extremely important, and what it is doing financially is, in many respects, ground-breaking.

You also asked to understand when some of the problems emerged. I would not want to opine about that ahead of the investigations that are taking place under new leadership and the chair of Historic Environment Scotland. I think that they will throw up a lot of the answers to when exactly some of the issues took place, to what extent they were endemic or not, and what the consequences must be.

I cannot recall exactly. I met him a number of times following my coming into office. I think that the last time that we met was at the opening of lock 16, which is the—

Thank you, convener, and good morning to colleagues on the committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about Historic Environment Scotland today. As the committee is aware, my responsibilities for Historic Environment Scotland are strategic rather than operational. That said, I share the committee’s concerns around the leadership of HES, and my officials have been working daily with the board to address those matters.

The first point that I want to place on record is that Historic Environment Scotland undertakes a vital role of investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland’s historic environment. The appointment of Sir Mark Jones as chair and the excellent work that is being carried out by HES staff give me confidence that HES will emerge from these challenges a stronger and more effective organisation that will continue to deliver for Scotland for many years to come.

After his appointment, I wrote to Sir Mark Jones on 10 October outlining my priorities to be addressed. Those included taking action to remedy any shortcomings identified in the forthcoming section 22 report from the Auditor General; resolving the situation with the chief executive; and improving the HES organisational culture. The Scottish Government will fully support the chair and the HES board in tackling those governance and leadership challenges.

Although I cannot go into individual staffing matters, I am assured that the board of HES, under the leadership of Sir Mark, is overseeing the robust investigation of all grievances and disciplinary matters. For example, an independent human resources firm has been appointed to investigate the grievances and performance issues. It is right that HES investigates those matters, and I look forward to being apprised of the outcomes.

I can also confirm that HES, with the support of the Scottish Government, has appointed a recruitment company, after a procurement process, to recruit a chief operating officer. Interviews are expected to take place in the next two weeks, with the appointment being made before the end of this year.

Finally, I am delighted to be able to tell the committee that I have received approval from the Ethical Standards Commissioner to appoint two new interim board members for 12 months. I aim to announce both appointments this week, but cannot name the individuals this morning.

I will be happy to discuss any of those matters in more detail with you.

No, it involved the responsible officials from the sponsorship team, who are responsible for attending such meetings, attending those meetings.

We have been very quick to make sure not only that Sir Mark has support from senior Scottish Government officials but that we are helping to build resilience in support of him with the appointment of a chief operating officer, which will be a significant resource. There will also be new board members who have skills that are currently not reflected on the board, which will help Sir Mark.

If anything needs to be put in place—in addition to the reviews, the investigations and the planning that takes place under new management and the new chairmanship of the board—I have said personally to Sir Mark, both before and since his appointment, that I want him to be as supported as he requires and that he need only speak with the relevant officials or with me and we will look very sympathetically at providing that support.