A
Local Education Authority (LEA)
was the part of a local council, or
local authority (LA), in England
and Wales
that was
responsible for education within that
council's jurisdiction. The phrase is now obsolete in
official use, but is still frequently used informally to refer to
the Education Department of the relevant local authority, which has
now largely ceased to exist following the statutory requirement
under the
Children Act 2004 that
these councils appoint a Director of Children's Services whose
responsibilities include those of the former Education department
and what used to be known as Children's Social Services.
Responsible local authority
In
Greater
London
the [[Loi was eandon borough|London borough
councils]] are the local authorities responsible for education; in
the [[metropolitan county|metropolitan counties]] it is the
metropolitan borough councils;
and in the
shire counties it is the
county councils or, where extant, the
councils of the
unitary
authorities.
Functions
Local education authorities have responsibility of all state
schools in their area: they organise funding for the schools,
allocate the number of places available at each school and employ
all teachers (except for
foundation and
voluntary aided schools, which, while
still funded through the local authority, employ their own
staff).
Local education authorities are responsible for the funding of
students in
higher education (for
example
undergraduate
courses and
PGCE) whose permanent address
is in their area, regardless of the place of study. Based on an
assessment of individual circumstances they offer grants or access
to
student loans through the
Student Loans Company.
History
Creation
The term was introduced by the
Education Act 1902 (2 Edw.7, c. 42). The
Act designated each local authority; either
county council and
county borough council; would set up a
committee known as a
Local Education Authority (LEA). The
councils took over the powers and responsibilities of the
school boards and
technical instruction
committees in their area.
Municipal boroughs with a population of
10,000 and
urban districts with a
population of 20,000 were to be local education authorities in
their areas for elementary education only. The LEAs' role was
further expanded with the introduction of school meals in 1906 and
medical inspection in 1907.
In 1904 the
London County
Council became a local education authority, with the abolition
of the
London School Board. The
metropolitan boroughs were not
education authorities, although they were given the power to decide
on the site for new schools in their areas, and provided the
majority of members on boards of management.
Reform
The system continued unchanged until 1965, when the
London County Council was replaced by
the
Greater London Council.
The twenty outer
London boroughs
became local education authorities, while a new
Inner London Education
Authority, consisting of the members of the GLC elected for the
inner boroughs covering the former
County of London was created.
In 1974 local government outside London was completely reorganised.
In the new
metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan boroughs became
LEAs. In the non-metropolitan counties the county councils were the education
authorities, as they were throughout Wales.
In 1986, with the abolition of the Greater London Council, a
directly elected Inner London Education authority was formed. This,
however, only existed until 1990, when the 12 inner
London boroughs assumed responsibility for
education.
In 1989, under the
Education
Reform Act 1988, the LEAs lost responsibility for higher
education, with all
polytechnics and colleges of
higher education becoming independent corporations.
A further
wave of local government reorganisation during the 1990s lead to
the formation of unitary
authorities in parts of England and throughout Wales, which
became local education authorities.
The
Education and
Inspections Act 2006 includes a clause which allows for the
future renaming of Local Education Authorities as
Local Authorities in all legislation,
removing the anomaly of one
local
authority being known as a local authority, a local education
authority, and a children's services authority.
A Local educational authority award is an award given to the local
educational authority.
List of local authorities responsible for education by
region
There are currently 150 local education authorities in England and
22 in Wales. Below they are listed alphabetically by region.
See also
References
External links
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