Getting in touch
There are lots of ways to get in touch and when you do our staff will be welcoming, polite and knowledgeable.
When you write to us
We will reply to all general postal and email enquiries which call for a response within 10 working days. If we need more time, we will send you an acknowledgement and let you know when to expect a full response.
Services such as listing, scheduling and their associated consents have their own response times and more details can be found on our website. Our grant schemes also have their own response times, which can be found on our website.
We will make sure our responses are clear and easy to understand without any jargon.
When you call us
Reception staff at our head offices will answer phone calls and give the name of the organisation. Answering machines in reception will only be used outside our normal office hours, on public holidays or in case of emergency. When leaving a message please be sure to include contact information such as name, email address and phone number, as well as the nature of your enquiry.
Incoming calls on direct lines to our main offices and monuments in our care will also normally be answered within standard working hours, though these hours may differ in various parts of the organization.
Sometimes we may need to transfer you to someone better able to help. If we do this, we will also tell you the number to call in case your call becomes disconnected.
If no-one is available to take your call, we will return all telephone calls, voicemail or answerphone messages within 2 working days, unless you have been informed otherwise.
When you visit us
Head Offices
Our head offices are open Monday-Thursday 9am‑5pm and Friday 9am‑4.30pm. (except Good Friday, Easter Monday, the St Andrew’s Day Holiday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and 1 and 2 January.)
Many of our head office-based staff work between home and the above buildings. If you would like to meet us in person, we suggest you phone or email us to check that the person you wish to see is available. We encourage visitors to travel sustainably when they visit us, and both offices are well-served by local buses. If you need to bring your car, we do have limited parking available which you can book before your visit.
You can find them here:
- Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SH
- John Sinclair House, Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 9NX
Phone: 0131 668 8600
Historic Environment Scotland Archives and Library
Our Archives and Library, based at John Sinclair House, are open Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 4pm and pre-booked group visits are welcome on Mondays.
Phone: 0131 662 1456
Monuments in our Care
Opening times for the monuments in our care vary. You can find more information, including opening hours on the Visit a Place section of our website.
From time to time, we may need to close or restrict access to a monument or the archive. This could be due to adverse weather, damage or planned conservation works. Before you travel, please check our unexpected closures page.
Accessibility
We do everything we can to make our services available to everyone. We are committed to ensuring our key corporate publications are accessible. Please let us know about any requirements you have in advance and we will do our best to help.
We also publish a visitor Access Guide to the monuments in our care.
Through our websites we aim to comply with W3C Web Accessibility Initiative double AA standards wherever possible. More information can be found on our website. When we’re making our content and services digital, we consider how they might be used by everyone, including people with impaired vision, motor difficulties, cognitive impairments or learning disabilities. deafness or impaired hearing.
When you ask for information
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act and Environmental Information Regulations give you the right to get information from public bodies. When you ask for recorded information from us we will respond to your request within 20 working days in line with the timescales set out in the legislation. More information is available on our Freedom of Information pages, or by emailing foi@hes.scot.
You can also find lots of information about our plans and services through our website or by phoning, writing or calling in at our head offices.
When you trust us with your data
We take all necessary steps to make sure that your personal data is kept secure at all times. We will keep personal data only for as long as it is needed for its original purpose unless there is a legal requirement to keep it longer.
You can access the information we hold about you and request the correction or deletion of information we hold about you. We will respond to your request within 28 calendar days. You can find out how to access the information we hold about you by emailing dataprotection@hes.scot or writing to the Data Protection Officer at Longmore House.
Telling us what you think
Your views are important to help us improve our services. We routinely engage with our customers and partners through day-to-day contact, meetings, customer surveys and more formal consultations.
If things go wrong and you need to make a complaint, details of how you can do so can be found on our website. We aim to solve problems promptly and will respond within 5 working days or up to 20 working days in more complex cases. If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, an independent and free service.
Improving our Service Standards
We are committed to providing effective and efficient services. We review our achievements each year and these are reported in our Annual Report and Accounts.
Every two years we undertake a survey to gain feedback on our services. We use this feedback to continuously improve the quality of our services.