Key issues in the development of the Local Education Authority as government agency between 1988 and 2002

This thesis examines some aspects of the relationship between central and local government in the administration of school based maintained education in England from the 1988 Education Reform Act to the point where the government was about to pass the 2002 Education Act. Consideration is given to the extent to which the local education authority (LEA) has become an agent of central government and to the ability of local education officers to influence the direction of policy implementation. The thesis is largely based on qualitative studies in "Centralshire", a county council in the midlands and in "Northall", a LEA in north London. [Continues.]