Humza Yousaf’s discrimination claim against nursery ‘upheld’

Humza Yousaf

Mr Yousaf complained that Little Scholars Day Nursery in Broughty Ferry had discriminated against his daughter.

He said his wife Nadia El-Nakla had applied for a space only to be told there were none. However, applications by the couple’s friends with “Scottish-sounding names” succeeded. The nursery denied this.

The Care Inspectorate investigated.

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.

“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.”

Little Scholars said the Care Inspectorate’s statement was “misleading”.

“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 nursery has instructed lawyers to “demand answers” about why the statement was issued.

“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.

“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.”

Aamer Anwar, solicitor for Mr Yousaf and his wife, said: “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’.”