A law firm representing the Dundee nursery at the heart of a discrimination row with Humza Yousaf has called on the care regulator to explain “misleading” statements.
Levy & McRae has written to the Care Inspectorate after Little Scholars nursery said an “extremely suspicious” statement contained “partisan spin”.
It comes after the regulator told the media its probe into the nursery following a complaint by health secretary Humza Yousaf and his wife found the service did not “promote fairness, equality and respect” in offering placements.
But a spokesperson for the nursery attacked a statement made to the media following the investigation and its conclusions.
Now, a law firm representing Little Scholars nursery in Dundee has written to the regulator demanding a clarification.
What do they think is inaccurate?
The complaint centres around a statement issued by spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate, rather than the report itself.
The statement 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.”
Legal firm Levy & McRae, who represented former First Minister Alex Salmond in his legal battle against the Scottish Government on sexual harassment claims, have now written to Peter Macleod, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate.
It says the firm became aware of media reports concerning its client circulating online at around 12.30pm on Wednesday.
“The overwhelming thrust of the media reporting is that a complaint of discrimination has been upheld,” solicitor advocate Callum Anderson wrote.
He added that this was “unsurprising” given the public statement, but went on to point to areas of the report which the firm say does not support the contents of the statement.
An ordinary and reasonable reader would understand from the terms of that statement that the nursery has acted in a discriminatory manner which is false and defamatory
Levy & McRae
Mr Anderson also said a specific reference to equality was removed from the final report following a post-investigation review of the draft.
“The issue we have is that the statement from the Care Inspectorate states: ‘We found the service did not promote fairness, equality and respect when offering placements’.
“An ordinary and reasonable reader would understand from the terms of that statement that the nursery has acted in a discriminatory manner which is false and defamatory,” the letter adds.
In a second issue, Levy & McRae say the statement fails to make clear that a complaint alleging Mr Yousaf and his family “were disadvantaged due to their ethnic group” had not been upheld.
The law firm requests that the Care Inspectorate issue an urgent clarification on the issue to the media.
“A urgent clarification at this stage would mitigate the damage to our client’s reputation,” the letter adds.
Asked about the criticisms, the Care Inspectorate said it had no further comment to make.
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