MUSSELBURGH Racecourse has been stripped of a prestigious employer award after a report declared its management committee, dominated by East Lothian councillors, was “dysfunctional” and claimed its chairman had “lost the respect” of its staff.

Investors In People (IIP) Scotland, which accredits businesses in work practice, accused course chairman Councillor John Caldwell of failing to take responsibility for the breakdown in relations.

However Councillor Caldwell said neither he nor any of the councillors on the committee were interviewed by the IIP inspector before the private report was compiled late last year.

He said the findings of the 58-page report, which the Courier has seen, would be challenged, describing it as “fundamentally flawed with inaccurate and misleading information”.

Musselburgh Racecourse is a five-star VisitScotland tourist attraction and has held its Investors In People standard for 12 years. It was saved from oblivion in the early 1990s by East Lothian Council and is now widely regarded as the best small racecourse in Britain, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year and worth millions of pounds to the county’s economy.

During an inspection in 2013, IIP Scotland raised a number of concerns about the Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee (MJRC), the track’s management committee, which is made up of four East Lothian councillors and three representatives of Lothian Racing Syndicate.

The inspector said that the racecourse’s operating team, which oversees the day to day running of the course, was good enough to qualify for its Gold standard – but when it took into account the workings of the MJRC, who are the decision makers, the course was at risk of failing to meet IIP’s most basic requirements.

The 2013 report said there was no effective leadership and criticised independent Musselburgh East councillor Caldwell’s style of management.

When the inspectors returned in October 2014 they said the situation had deteriorated further and IIP Scotland decide to take the standard away from the racecourse.

The IIP Scotland report, which followed the October 2014 inspection, said: “To lead you need followers. The present Managing Chair would appear to have lost those who he needs to follow him. What should have been a year of mending bridges would appear to have been wasted and if anything the situation has become much worse.” And it added: “During the interviews carried out for this IIP review, it was apparent that there was not the evidence to suggest any actions against the improvements identified in October 2013 had taken place.

“If anything, relations between the Councillors and the Lothian Racing Syndicate have deteriorated even more from the weak position of a year ago. The relationship between the Managing Chair and the Operations Team has also worsened to the effect that the Managing Chair, through his actions, has lost the respect of the Operations Team.” Councillor Caldwell has pledged to challenge the findings which he described as “premature”.

He said: “At the second round of interviews, none of the councillors including myself were interviewed and therefore the decision made was premature, without everyone’s input.

“Part of the process is that a debrief takes place, which is still to happen, and at that stage the report will be challenged.

“I think the report is fundamentally flawed with inaccurate and misleading information.” Relations between councillors and the syndicate members have been strained since a member of the syndicate made a string of allegations against Councillors John Caldwell, Andrew Forrest (Lab) and John McNeill (Lab), over their involvement with the racecourse.

None of the allegations, made to the Public Standards Commission,were upheld.

These three councillors are joined on the committee by Councillor Margaret Libberton (Lab), who replaced Councillor John McMillan on the committee last year.

East Lothian Council leases the racecourse and buildings to MJRC annually – the ground the course is built on is owned by the Musselburgh Common Good Fund and leased in turn by the local authority.

Councillor Stuart Currie, Musselburgh West, and leader of the SNP group on East Lothian Council, described the breakdown between councillors and syndicate members as “a civil war”.

He said: “We have a five-star facility which is an asset to East Lothian and is in danger of suffering because of its management committee. There clearly needs to be a change in the members on the committee, or as we have suggested in the past, a new way of running the racecourse, by selling ownership of the lease to a business venture, has to be found. This situation cannot go on, it is not good for the racecourse’s reputation or staff morale.” Bill Farnsworth, Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, said the loss of IIP status was disappointing but stressed it was in no way a reflection on the staff. There is a core staff of 17 which rises to 30 on race days, when the addition of sub-contracted workers takes employee numbers up to 300.

He said: “We are deeply disappointed that after holding Investors in People status for 12 years that this badge of excellence has been removed. However, we are encouraged that the IIP inspector’s report makes clear that the hard working staff who make up the Operations Team are not held responsible for this state of affairs.

“We remain committed to giving racegoers a firstclass visitor experience and maintaining our position as Scotland’s only racecourse to hold a VisitScotland 5 Star rating.” In the last decade Musselburgh Racecourse has built up annual attendances from circa 30,000 to 70,000 and more than £5 million has been reinvested into improving facilities for racegoers, owners, trainers and horses. Annual prize money exceeds £1.8 million. Its annual Ladies Day meeting in June has sold out every year in the last ten years and in 2014 achieved a modern day attendance record of 9500.

As a not-for-profit organisation, all income is invested back into Musselburgh Racecourse.

A spokesman for IIP Scotland said: “After their latest assessment by an Investors in People Scotland specialist, it was concluded that MJRC did not meet the requirements of the Investors in People standard. MJRC and IIP Scotland continue to work closely together to support MJRC to drive improvement.” An East Lothian Council spokesman said: “The council recognises the value that IIP brings to an organisation and acknowledges that the MJRC is soon to be meeting to consider the report in full and will be aiming to develop a ‘one team ethos’ as recommended by IIP.”