Council gives chair power over flag-flying after dispute between leader and chief executive

Council leader George Finch and chief executive Monica Fogarty clashed in June after Fogarty refused to remove the Pride flag at Finch's request.

The council's old policy dictated that decisions on which flags should be flown were a matter for the chief executive.

Fogarty drew criticism from the party's national leadership at the time, with Reform UK's head of the 'Department of Government Efficiency', Zia Yousef, labelling her the "monarch of Warwickshire".

The council's cabinet voted through the new approach to flag flying on 4 September.

Under the new provisions, the Warwickshire's chairman will have sole discretion over which flag can be flown.

The policy also establishes a set standard flags to be flown: the Union Flag, the Cross of St George and the County Flag of Warwickshire.

The policy also states that the Armed Forces Covenant flag will be flown during Armed Forces Week.

The policy stipulates that requests for additional flags to be flown will be subject to any applicable legal requirements, such as obtaining planning permission for certain flags. Requests will be approved at the "sole discretion" of the Chair, it adds.

Warwickshire Pride - a registered charity which provides support services and representation to the LGBT+ community - meanwhile raised "strong concerns" about the absence of any mention of the Pride flag "and the change to concentrate the authority to decide what flags are flown in a single political role".

In a letter to Cllr Finch ahead of the meeting, the group said that the council's decision to fly the Pride flag represented "the idea that LGBTQ+ people are welcome in society and that they are not alone".

Responding to the letter, Portfolio Holder for Customer and Localities, Cllr Mike Bannister, said that Warwickshire Pride would have the same rights as any other group.

He also said that the policy change would mean that "no group would be given automatic reminiscence, no group would be allowed to dominate the public space".

Opposition councillors meanwhile said the decision concentrated power in the role of the chairman, who is a political appointee.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Jerry Woodhouse, requested that any decision taken by the chairman in relation to the flying of flags be published in an open letter to the public, as he did not feel the policy had any accountability around it.

Cllr Finch meanwhile told the cabinet meeting that he felt the three flags detailed in the policy represented everyone in Warwickshire and would help communities to come together and unite.

Adam Carey