A nursery accused of rejecting an application for the daughter of the Scottish health secretary in favour of children with “white-sounding names” has had a complaint against it upheld.

Humza Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla made a formal complaint about Little Scholars Day Nursery in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, after their daughter Amal failed to get a place due to an alleged lack of space.

He claimed that two days later, a white friend of the couple was told there was space for her son on three afternoons every week.

Mr Yousaf contacted the Daily Record newspaper, which said it had submitted fake queries from a Muslim family and white family, with the same outcome.

Little Scholars claimed the allegations were “demonstrably false”, but an investigation by the Care Inspectorate found the nursery “did not promote fairness, equality and respect when offering placements”.

It has now been ordered to introduce measures so applications “are processed in a transparent and equitable manner” and to prove it is “being well-led and managed” by 12 December.

The nursery has also been told to show that “communication with prospective families is improved to demonstrate that applicants are treated in a courteous and respectful manner”, according to the ruling.

A Care Inspectorate spokesman 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.”

Mr Yousaf and Ms El-Nakla’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said the couple “feel vindicated” by the decision to uphold the complaint.

He added: “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 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.”

A spokesperson for Little Scholars said that the Care Inspectorate statement was “extremely suspicious and highly misleading” and claimed the report did not include “findings of discrimination or any issues with a lack of equality”.

The spokesperson said the nursery would ask lawyers to seek answers about the “inaccurate statement”, but added: “As a small family business, we’re always looking at ways we can improve things.

“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 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 longstanding and highly valued member of our team, and it’s been hugely upsetting to see her face such unfair and 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 and unnecessary stress to our team and our families.

“We are grateful for the overwhelming support of our parents and the local community.

“Although not mentioned in the final report, over 40 letters of support were sent to the Care Inspectorate by parents and families who know and value how we care for their children, as well as countless emails and phone calls.

“It’s been very humbling to see how much they wanted to show their support and we simply can’t thank them enough.

“We had hoped to draw a line under this whole episode and get back to doing what we love - looking after children.”

When Mr Yousaf first announced he was seeking legal advice about the incident, he wrote on Twitter: “It doesn’t matter what my position or how senior in Govt I may be, some will always see me, my wife and children by our ethnicity or religion first.

“We have given Little Scholars nursery every opportunity for an explanation for the disparity in treatment, none has been forthcoming.”