Council apologises after sending school letters to families of 41 dead children
3 October 2019, 15:05
Norfolk County Council has apologised after sending school enrolment letters to the families of 41 dead children.
The council mistakenly sent the letters to the families, including one which had suffered the loss of two children, with an invitation to apply for a school place their local area.
One of the letters read that a child who had died was "due to start school in a Reception class from September 2020 and it is now time for you to apply for a school place".
A grieving mother who received one these letters said it made her feel "like someone was twisting the knife in an already broken heart".
Councillor Andrew Proctor, leader of Norfolk County Council, said: "We are truly sorry for the pain and distress caused to the families who were mistakenly sent a schools admissions letter about their child who had sadly passed away.
"At the moment, our priority is contacting the families concerned so we can apologise to them directly.
"In terms of what happened, as soon as we found out the letters had been sent we launched an investigation through our internal audit department to ensure that such a mistake does not happen again."
The council have launched a full investigation into the incident.
