All staff at Historic Environment Scotland with the exception of the Chief Executive are covered by collective bargaining arrangements between Historic Environment Scotland and the recognised Trade Unions, Prospect and PCS. The Chief Executive's pay is covered by a separate arrangement covering the Senior Civil Service.

The pay rises received by staff at Historic Environment Scotland were part of the interim pay agreement negotiated across the Scottish civil and public service sector by the recognised Unions earlier this year in response to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

All staff covered by collective bargaining received a 3% pay increase, with a minimum payment of £750. A cap of £2000 was in place for staff earning £80,000 or more. Prospect does not recognise some of the calculations in the Daily Record article, but we are very firmly of a view that collective bargaining is a matter for the Unions and the employer, and we sought this increase for all staff covered by our negotiating arrangements.

"Its quite disappointing that the Daily Record has sought to interfere with longstanding collective arrangements at Historic Environment Scotland" said Prospect's National Secretary for Scotland and Ireland Richard Hardy "this is something that could have been easily checked with the Unions, and it's doubly disappointing that several politicians have also intervened without checking their facts"

"Our longstanding partnership arrangements with HES are used to regularly hold the board to account for the decisions they take, and frankly this sort of misinformed intervention is unhelpful" Hardy concluded