Warwickshire County Council: Date set for flag policy review - but it won't go to full council vote

The Reform UK cabinet in charge at Shire Hall passed a new policy that states only the flags of the UK, England and the county will be flown from the building as a matter of course.

Exceptions for the armed forces and royal flags have been written in but the flying of any other flags will only be considered on request and at the “sole discretion” of the chair of the council, a position currently held by Reform UK’s Councillor Ed Harris

(Baddesley & Dordon).

Decisions on which flags went up had previously been left to chief executive Monica Fogarty, something that led to a public storm in June when new leader Councillor George Finch (Reform UK, Bedworth Central) asked for the Progress Pride flag to be taken down. Ms Fogarty said no.

That led to the formal policy being voted through by Reform UK's cabinet on Thursday, September 4, but rival politicians were unhappy that it was taken through that route rather than a vote of all councillors and triggered the 'call-in' process.

What was rejected and what it means

Two call-ins have been announced, one from the Liberal Democrats and another led by the deputy leader of the Labour group Councillor John Holland (Warwick West) supported Green Party trio Councillor Sam Jones (Warwick North), Councillor Nicki Scott (Warwick South) and Councillor Mark Stevens (Lapworth & West Kenilworth).

Cllr Holland argued that as a new policy, the decision automatically fell outside the existing policy framework and should therefore be considered by all councillors rather than an overview and scrutiny panel – the usual path for call-ins.

However, monitoring officer Sarah Duxbury – the council’s most senior legal official – disagreed.

The council’s constitution states that “where it appears that the decision might reasonably be considered by the monitoring officer to be contrary to the policy framework”, they may refer the matter to full council.

Warwickshire County Council was invited to set out the reasons for Ms Duxbury’s judgement. A statement reiterated the relevant part of the constitution and concluded: “However, that is not the case here.”

The outcome significantly dilutes the power councillors have to challenge the decision with the scrutiny panel limited to a review and potentially asking the cabinet to reconsider. If the cabinet decides to stand by its call then that is the end of the matter.

Had it been sent to full council, all councillors would have had the opportunity to debate and even vote on the decision.

What now?

It will now go to a special meeting of the resources, fire and rescue overview and scrutiny committee at 10am on Monday, September 22, at Shire Hall.

Members of the public are free to attend without notice.

They can also ask questions or air their views provided they register to speak at least two working days before the meeting.

Those registered can speak for up to three minutes, a timeframe that can get reduced if the volume of speakers means they are likely to take more than half an hour to get through.

Those who wish to speak can register by emailing [email protected]