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A Local Education Authority ('''LEA''') is the part of a Council in England or Wales that is responsible for Education within that council's jurisdiction. This function is exercised by the County Councils , Metropolitan Borough councils and Unitary Authorities . LEAs are in charge of all state schools in their area: they organise funding for the schools, allocate the number of places available for pupils at each school and employ all teachers at the schools (except for Foundation School s, which, while still funded by the LEA, employ their own staff). LEAs are also responsible for funding pupils entering Undergraduate Higher Education or embarking on a Postgraduate Certificate in Education ( PGCE ). They assess the income of a student or their parents currently living in their jurisdiction and help pay the cost of Tuition Fees if the assessment shows that the student or parents should not pay them all. The assessment also determines how much Student Loan they are entitled to, though the loan itself is supplied by the Student Loans Company . The LEA provides these services to a student whose home address is in the LEA, even if the student chooses to go to a university outside that LEA. HISTORY The term "Local Education Authority" was introduced by the Education Act 1902 (2 Edw.7, c. 42). The Act designated each County Council and County Borough as LEAs, assuming responsibility for education in 1903 . The councils took over the powers and responsibilities of the School Boards and Technical Instruction Committee s in their area. Municipal Borough s with a population of 10,000 and Urban District s with a population of 20,000 were to be local education authorities in their areas for elementary education only. In the following year the London County Council became a local education authority, with the abolition of the London School Board . The Metropolitan Borough s 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. The system continued unchanged until 1965 , when the London County Council was replaced by the Greater London Council . The twenty outer London Borough s 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 Borough s became LEAs. In the non-metropolitan counties the County Council s 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 Borough s assumed responsibility for education. In 1989 , under the Education Reform Act 1988 , LEAs lost responsibility for higher education, with all Polytechnic s and colleges of higher education becoming independent corporations. A further wave of local government reorganisation from 1995 lead to the formation of Unitary Authorities in parts of England and throughout Wales , which became local education authorities. 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. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |