Is there any way to shift this flat (highlighted) closer to the note, regardless of whether it breaks the rules?
There’s a setting in Engraving Options:
There is also “Accidental X offset” in the Properties panel under Notes and Rests.
Incidentally, are you using Bravura, or something else?
You can alternatively get the flats to nest by setting this value to minus 1/4.
November 2 font.