THE powerful Hampshire Senate which will decide how millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money are spent has met for the first time – behind closed doors.

Members of the public were not allowed at the five-hour meeting, which took place at the University of Winchester.

Campaigners have attacked the decision to hold the meeting in secret and today demanded that future sittings be open to anyone.

Plans to form the new tier of government in Hampshire – which is already costing taxpayers £50,000 – only emerged after a Daily Echo investigation in May.

It is the brainchild of county council leader Ken Thornber – the self-annointed chairman of the senate leading to critics dubbing him Emperor Ken – who says it will save millions of pounds by i m p r o v i n g services.

The Conservative councillor also hopes it will stop Government moves to carve up Hampshire into unitary councils similar to Southampton and Portsmouth.

Controversially, the senate includes six unelected representatives from a cross-section of the county.

The Daily Echo can today reveal that B r i g a d i e r Miles Wade, the senior military commander in Hampshire, has been appointed a senator and will have the power to vote on issues ranging from climate change to teenage pregnancy and drug abuse.

The 21-seat senate also includes just three women, Southampton City Council councillor Jacqui Rayment, chairman of the Hampshire Police Authority, Caroline Williams, chairman of the Hampshire Economic Partnership and Pam Alexander, chief executive of regional development agency SEEDA.

Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign director Mark Wallace said: “Having yet another expensive talking shop is bad enough, but having it behind closed doors and in secret is a disgrace.

“People are entitled to see how their money is being spent and to make their own minds up about whether this is a worthwhile expense. Let’s see minutes, accounts and expenses – after all we foot the bill.”

Christine Melsom from the anti-council tax campaign group Is It Fair? last night said the senate could only be held accountable by opening its doors to the public.

“If they are going to run something like this people should know what is going on because the majority of the people on this senate are put there and not voted there by the public,” she said.

Councillor Ken Thornber said it was always his desire to have the meetings in public, but he could not make that decision without first consulting his fellow senators last Wednesday.

“The issue of public engagement was discussed at the first meeting, which was a meeting to lay the groundwork, and it was agreed that the senate would follow a similar process to council meetings in that the meetings would be held in public and advertised in advance,” he said.

“There may be occasions where, for reasons such as commercial sensitivity and funding, some agenda items may need to be confidential. In addition the senate will hold its meetings at venues across the county to enable members of the public and media from different parts of Hampshire to attend.”

The senate has replaced the Hampshire Strategic Partnership Steering Group and the Local Area Agreement Board as the county’s major decision-making body on 60 key issues such as health, crime and the environment.

However John Denham, Cabinet member for universities and skills, said the existing Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) was the sub-regional body that mattered to the Government.

“For southern Hampshire the key group is PUSH and that’s the group that work with the Government in tackling problems in the area,” he said.

The Echo requested a copy of the senate meeting’s minutes, but a county council spokesman said they would not be released until the agenda for the next meeting was published. A press statement said reducing childhood obesity and teenage pregnancy and raising educational attainment were some of the issues discussed behind closed doors by the senate. Future meetings will be held on November 28, January 30 and March 27, at venues yet to be confirmed.

The first unofficial gathering of the senate – which included an all expenses paid overnight stay in a hotel – was cancelled at the last minute in May after some “senators” refused the invitation.

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