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A 'Local Education Authority (LEA)' is the part of a local council, or local authority (LA), in England and Wales that is 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.

Contents

Responsible local authority

Functions

History

Creation

Reform

List of local authorities responsible for education by region

See also

References

External links

Responsible local authority

In Greater London the London borough councils are the local authorities responsible for education; in the 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 by 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). Bryne, T., ''Local Government in Britain'', (1994) 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. ^[1]
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, ^[2] 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. ^[3]
The Education and Inspections Bill, presented to parliament in 2006 includes a clause which allows for the 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.

List of local authorities responsible for education by region

There are currently 150 local education authorities in England. Below they are listed alphabetically by region. ^[4]

London
★ Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council ★ Barnet London Borough Council ★ Bexley London Borough Council ★ Brent London Borough Council ★ Bromley London Borough Council ★ Camden London Borough Council ★ Corporation of London ★ Croydon London Borough Council ★ Ealing London Borough Council ★ Enfield London Borough Council ★ Greenwich London Borough Council ★ Hackney London Borough Council ★ Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council ★ Haringey London Borough Council ★ Harrow London Borough Council ★ Havering London Borough Council ★ Hillingdon London Borough Council	★ Hounslow London Borough Council ★ Islington London Borough Council ★ Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council ★ Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council ★ Lambeth London Borough Council ★ Lewisham London Borough Council ★ Merton London Borough Council ★ Newham London Borough Council ★ Redbridge London Borough Council ★ Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council ★ Southwark London Borough Council ★ Sutton London Borough Council ★ Tower Hamlets London Borough Council ★ Waltham Forest London Borough Council ★ Wandsworth London Borough Council ★ Westminster City Council
South West
★ Bath and North East Somerset District Council ★ Bournemouth Borough Council ★ Bristol City Council ★ Cornwall County Council ★ Devon County Council ★ Dorset County Council ★ Gloucestershire County Council ★ Council of the Isles of Scilly	★ North Somerset District Council ★ Plymouth City Council ★ Poole Borough Council ★ Somerset County Council ★ South Gloucestershire District Council ★ Swindon Borough Council ★ Torbay Borough Council ★ Wiltshire County Council
South East
★ Bracknell Forest Borough Council ★ Brighton and Hove City Council ★ Buckinghamshire County Council ★ East Sussex County Council ★ Hampshire County Council ★ Isle of Wight Council ★ Kent County Council ★ Medway Borough Council ★ Milton Keynes Borough Council ★ Oxfordshire County Council	★ Portsmouth City Council ★ Reading Borough Council ★ Slough Borough Council ★ Southampton City Council ★ Surrey County Council ★ West Berkshire District Council ★ West Sussex County Council ★ Wokingham District Council ★ Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council
East
★ Bedfordshire County Council ★ Cambridgeshire County Council ★ Essex County Council ★ Hertfordshire County Council ★ Luton Borough Council	★ Norfolk County Council ★ Peterborough City Council ★ Southend-on-Sea Borough Council ★ Suffolk County Council ★ Thurrock Borough Council
West Midlands
★ Birmingham City Council ★ Coventry City Council ★ Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council ★ County of Herefordshire District Council ★ Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Shropshire County Council ★ Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council	★ Staffordshire County Council ★ Stoke-on-Trent City Council ★ Telford and Wrekin Borough Council ★ Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Warwickshire County Council ★ Wolverhampton City Council ★ Worcestershire County Council
East Midlands
★ Derby City Council ★ Derbyshire County Council ★ Leicester City Council ★ Leicestershire County Council ★ Lincolnshire County Council	★ Northamptonshire County Council ★ Nottingham City Council ★ Nottinghamshire County Council ★ Rutland County Council District Council
Yorkshire and the Humber
★ Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Bradford City Council ★ Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council ★ East Riding of Yorkshire Council ★ Hull City Council ★ Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Leeds City Council	★ North East Lincolnshire Borough Council ★ North Lincolnshire Borough Council ★ North Yorkshire County Council ★ Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Sheffield City Council ★ Wakefield City Council ★ York City Council
North West
★ Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council ★ Blackpool Borough Council ★ Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Bury Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Cheshire County Council ★ Cumbria County Council ★ Halton Borough Council ★ Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Lancashire County Council ★ Liverpool City Council ★ Manchester City Council	★ Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Salford City Council ★ Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council ★ St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Warrington Borough Council ★ Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
North East
★ Darlington Borough Council ★ Durham County Council ★ Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Hartlepool Borough Council ★ Middlesbrough Borough Council ★ North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council	★ Northumberland County Council ★ Newcastle upon Tyne City Council ★ Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council ★ South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council ★ Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council ★ Sunderland City Council

See also

★ Special education#England and Wales

★ Special education#Scotland

★ Special school

References

1. Saint, A., ''Politics and the people of London: the London County Council (1889-1965)'', (1989)
2. Redcliffe-Maud & Wood, B., ''English Local Government Reformed'', (1974)
3. Jones, B. et al, ''Politics UK'', (2004)
4. Department for Education and Skills - LA Contact Details

External links

★ DfES: The Role of the Local Education Authority in School Education