В Ноттингемшире потратили 75 тысяч фунтов на развешивание флага, который затем осквернили вандалы

Defaced and with no sponsors - the story of Reform's Nottinghamshire Union flag banners Thousands of pounds have been spent repairing some of the flags and banners More than 160 Union Flag banners graced Nottinghamshire’s streets late last year in a bid to boost local pride – but has it been a success? Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council hit the headlines last October when its leadership announced it would be spending £75,000 installing 164 Union Flag banners on lampposts along the county’s roads, partly to “enhance civic pride”. The aim was to boost pride in the area and draw in some cash from local business sponsorship. The flags were rolled out around the end of November and the beginning of December. However, they have been shrouded in criticism since their deployment, with some even defaced. The move drew criticism from opposition members on the authority, who labelled the project a waste of taxpayers’ money, with the Conservative leader of the opposition, Sam Smith, telling the cabinet in February that the council could have filled in 1,000 potholes for that price. But the Reform council leader, Mick Barton, has routinely defended the banners, recently saying they were funded with savings the authority made on cabinet positions, not money taken from any service. He also told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that there was “absolutely” an opportunity for the banners to bring in some income for the council through business sponsorship. Later in May, Reform pushed forward with an alternative use for similar banners, with the authority revealing it would invest £6,000 in hanging 41 fostering banners across the county as part of a campaign to invite more families to join the service. With the group’s banners not even hanging up for a year yet, how have the decorated lampposts fared? More than a dozen vandalised Since their deployment, there have been a few publicised incidents of the banners being defaced, either ripped or written on, with black-painted writing offering sarcastic comments, in January, May and June this year. An anonymous vandal, or vandals, have shown their contempt for some Union Flag banners in Broxtowe in recent months, with two outside the Jaguar Service Centre on Nottingham Road, near Chilwell, found painted with ‘sponsored by’ and ‘the taxpayer’ on either side in May. The following month, one banner near the turn for Highfields Fire Station in Beeston was left with ‘your ad here’ as a potential jibe at the authority for not receiving any sponsorships at this point. An FOI submitted by the LDRS in early July has shown a total of 16 banners, including those advertising fostering, have been vandalised across each of the county’s boroughs and districts. These are: - Ashfield district – two - Bassetlaw – one - Broxtowe – three - Gedling – two - Mansfield – two - Newark and Sherwood – three - Rushcliffe – three Of those vandalised, 14 have been replaced, while the other two have simply been removed, including 10 Union Flag banners and four fostering banners, costing the authority £3,328.59. The council has a contingency budget of around £18,000 for all repairs, including weather and bracket damage, as well as any traffic management or safety requirements needed when completing a repair. A spokesperson at the authority has said in a statement that the acts were “disgusting”. They said: “It’s disgusting that anyone would go out of their way to desecrate our national flag. We are looking at CCTV and have informed police. If we are able to, we will prosecute the people behind this disgraceful vandalism.” Zero sponsorships Ashfield Reform MP Lee Anderson previously claimed the banners would not cost taxpayers “a single penny”, as the party would get businesses to sponsor them. Cllr Barton furthered this in February, telling the LDRS “a lot of businesses” had been in contact with the authority. At the time, this included around three or four pubs, a factory, a café, a couple of restaurants and a warehouse. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that a form of planning permission would be needed from district and borough councils to allow for these business sponsorships. An FOI submitted by the LDRS in April returned that the authority still had no confirmed sponsorships. Now, in August, the council still has none of the banners sponsored, but it says work is underway. Dozens of ‘life-changing’ banners deployed In May, the council began hanging up 41 fostering banners across lampposts in Nottinghamshire to promote the vocation, as part of a £6,000 investment, which it said was separate from the Union Flag banners. That month, it said it was ‘bucking the national trend’ in fostering families, seeing an increase in those joining the service for the first time since the pandemic. The authority saw an overall ‘net gain’ of six fostering families in the service, where it had 23 de-registrations but had 29 families join – a 38 per cent reduction in de-registrations compared to the year before. As of March 2026, there were 907 looked-after children under the council’s care, which was a slight increase from 900 reported in April 2025. Celebrating the banners being installed, Councillor Rory Green, cabinet member for children and families, told the LDRS in May: “We’re going to be excited to see the fruit of this, and I believe this investment is going to be of so much worth, and if it just brings in one family, it could change one child’s life forever.” The authority does not currently have data to show whether the banners have increased fostering enquiries. But Foster for East Midlands Councils, a joint campaign including Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council, had 164 contacts, 60 enquiries, 34 visits and 21 applications – six for Nottinghamshire – between May 1 and June 26.