A discrimination complaint by Scottish Government minister Humza Yousaf against a Dundee nursery has been upheld after a probe by the regulator.
A complaint was made by the health secretary about Little Scholars Nursery in Broughty Ferry after he alleged his daughter had been discriminated against.
Mr Yousaf said he and his wife Nadia El-Nakla had applied for a space at the nursery only to be told there was no availability.
But the couple, who live in Dundee, said applications at the same time by friends for children with “white Scottish-sounding names” were accepted, something the nursery has consistently denied.
An investigation was launched by the Care Inspectorate following the complaint, with inspectors upholding the allegations and finding the nursery did not “promote fairness, equality and respect” in offering placements.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “We have upheld a complaint in relation to this matter. We found that the service did not promote fairness, equality and respect when offering placements.
“Every child in Scotland has the right to good quality care that meets their needs and respects their rights.
We have identified areas for improvement and we will follow up on these to check on progress
Care Inspectorate
“We have identified areas for improvement and we will follow up on these to check on progress.
“We continue to monitor this service. If we are not satisfied that the improvements required have been met, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
What has the regulator said?
In its report, the Care Inspectorate has made a number of recommendations which it said the nursery should follow.
It says that by December 12 the nursery should demonstrate it is well managed, with inspectors laying out three conditions to do this.
Firstly it says the nursery should implement “consistent and robust systems” to manage admission requests in a transparent manner.
It also says the nursery’s management team should be fully resourced.
And it requests that communication with prospective families should be improved to “demonstrate that applicants are treated in a courteous and respectful manner”.
It adds: “People must receive the right information.”
Little Scholars reject regulator’s finding
In a statement, Little Scholars said the Care Inspectorate statement was “misleading” and issued to the media before the nursery.
“This is an extremely suspicious and highly misleading statement, issued to the media without any notice being given to us and with a particularly inaccurate and partisan spin.
“Contrary to the media statement issued by the Care Inspectorate, there were no findings of discrimination or any issues with a lack of equality upheld by the investigation or contained within its official report,” a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the nursery had instructed lawyers to “demand answers” as to how the statement had been issued.
Regulator accused of ‘misleading statement’
“Whilst the Care Inspectorate found our admission procedure could be improved, this had nothing to do with discrimination or equality and within a few days of becoming aware of Mr Yousaf and Ms El-Nakla’s complaint, we reviewed and updated our system for dealing with admissions.
“We never had the slightest doubt that the complaint against our manager’s character and integrity would be rejected.
Dundee nursery defends manager
“She is a long-standing and highly valued member of our team, and it’s been hugely upsetting to see her face such unfair and untrue allegations.
The nursery also thanked parents and families who sent over 40 letters of support to the regulator.
“We had hoped to draw a line under this whole episode and get back to doing what we love – looking after children.”
The Care Inspectorate said it had no comment to make on the criticisms made by the nursery.
Humza Yousaf welcomes regulator’s finding
A statement from Aamer Anwar, the solicitor representing Mr Yousaf and his wife, said: “My clients Nadia El-Nakla and Humza Yousaf welcome the upholding of the complaint by the independent regulators and feel vindicated by the decision.
“They are first and foremost loving parents who would do anything to protect their children.
“Humza and Nadia were left deeply upset when they believed their young daughter Amal was being discriminated against and that is why they took action they did.
“They are no different to any other parent in Scotland and simply wanted their daughter to be given equal and fair access to opportunity regardless of her race or religion.”
Mr Anwar added: “After taking action both Humza and Nadia were subjected to a tirade of abuse and accused of being liars.
“It is now for the Nursery to prove through its practice that improvements will be made or as the Inspectorate have said they ‘will not hesitate to take further action’.”
Humza Yousaf: Dundee nursery attacks Care Inspectorate over discrimination findings