Reform council told to reconsider 'grey areas' in flag policy
Under the rules previously approved by the cabinet, the Union flag and the county council's own flag would fly permanently on two of the three flagpoles outside County Hall, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said. The St George's flag would fly from the third pole, unless it was replaced with the Lord Lieutenant's flag when they were in the building.A fourth flagpole in County Hall's quadrangle could be used to mark events such as Armed Forces Day, Commonwealth Day and Armistice Day, the LDRS added. Decisions on flying all other flags would be delegated to council chief executive John Sinnott after discussion with council leader Dan Harrison, under the policy.
In a meeting on Tuesday, chair of the scrutiny commission, Conservative councillor Deborah Taylor, said the agreed protocol gives "much too grey an area" and should specify which flags will be flown on the fourth pole in the quadrangle."It needs to be really, really clear, so there are no grey areas," Taylor added. Taylor said decisions in relation to requests to fly other flags should only be delegated to the leader and chief executive in "in exceptional circumstances". At the meeting, deputy leader of the Reform group, Joseph Boam, said the Union flag is the "most inclusive flag".Boam added: "We are inclusive, which is why we will fly the Union flag, which represents everyone in this county and country regardless of sexuality, gender or race. I feel it's that simple."The decision has come after 102 social workers at the council signed a letter to the new Reform UK cabinet stating they felt flying community flags was a "vitally-important" symbol from the council that it was "supportive of marginalised groups".The letter continued: "Removing these flags promotes exclusion and marginalisation – it implies people represented by those flags are not welcome.Boam told the scrutiny commission he "had not had the chance" to meet with social workers to discuss the flag policy following the letter.He added: "I will make the effort to reach out after this."
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