Humza and wife ‘vindicated’ over ruling on nursery
HUMZA Yousaf’s claim that a nursery discriminated against his daughter has been upheld by regulators.
The Health Secretary and his wife Nadia El-Nakla made a formal complaint about Little Scholars day nursery in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, after their daughter Amal did not get a place due to an alleged lack of space.
He claimed the nursery favoured children with ‘white-sounding names’ and that a white friend was told there was space for her son two days later.
The Care Inspectorate yesterday upheld the complaint and ordered the nursery to introduce measures
‘Areas for improvement’
so applications ‘are processed in a transparent and equitable manner’ by December 12. It said it ‘will not hesitate to take further action’ if practices are not improved.
But the nursery owners hit back yesterday by claiming the Care Inspectorate had issued an ‘extremely suspicious and highly misleading’ statement, and that the report did not include ‘findings of discrimination or any issues with a lack of equality’.
A Care Inspectorate spokesman said: ‘We found the service did not promote fairness, equality and respect when offering placements.
‘We have identified areas for improvement and we will follow up on these to check progress.’
Mr Yousaf and Miss El-Nakla’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said the couple ‘feel vindicated’ by the decision. He added: ‘Humza and Nadia were deeply upset when they believed their daughter Amal was being discriminated against.
‘They are no different to any other parent in Scotland and simply wanted [her] to be given equal and fair access to opportunity regardless of her race or religion.’
A spokesman for Little Scholars said it would ask lawyers to seek answers about the ‘inaccurate statement’. She said: ‘As a small family business, we’re always looking at ways we can improve.
‘While 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 Miss El-Nakla’s complaint, we reviewed and updated our system.
‘We never had the slightest doubt that the complaint against our manager’s character and integrity would be rejected. She is a longstanding and highly valued member of our team, and it’s been hugely upsetting to see her face such unfair, untrue allegations.
‘I’m sure we could have quickly resolved this issue if we had been approached directly rather than using the national media, which has caused enormous stress.
‘We are grateful for the overwhelming support of our parents and the local community.’