Outside body

The Hampshire Senate is a voluntary partnership made up of the County Council leader, leaders of most of the Hampshire district councils, the Chairmen of Hampshire Police and Fire Authorities, and the Hampshire Primary Care Trust along with the Chairman of the Hampshire Association of Local Councils and representatives of the Hampshire Economic Partnership, Hampshire's Partnership Network, Voluntary and Community Sector, the Chairmen of Hampshire's Local Economic Partnerships and the Armed Forces.

The idea of the Senate as an overarching 'Hampshire partnership' extending the voluntary collaboration already taking place in many areas. The development of such a partnership is another logical step in that direction, which offers the opportunity to rationalise some of the existing partnership arrangements. Far from being another tier of government, as some have suggested, this new arrangement potentially has the ability to reduce the bureaucracy and the cost around many fragmented central government initiatives and enhance the collaboration between elected and non elected bodies which deliver public