revious to the Education Act 1902, county councils had certain
optional powers under the Technical Instruction Acts to supply or aid
the supply of technical or manual instruction. Their duties in respect
to education were, however, much enlarged by the act of 1902. That act
abolished the old school boards and school attendance committees, and
substituted a single authority for all kinds of schools and for all
kinds of education. The county council or the council of a county
borough is now in every case the local education authority, except
that non-county boroughs with a population of over 10,000, and urban
districts with a population of over 20,000, may be the local education
authorities for elementary education only, but they may relinquish
their powers in favour of the county council. For higher education
county councils and county boroughs are the sole education
authorities, except that non-county boroughs and urban councils are
given a concurrent power of levying a rate for higher education not
exceeding 1d. in the L. Under the act, an education committee must be
established by all authorities. The majority of the members of the
committee are appointed by the council, usually out of their own body,
and the remainder are appointed by the council on the nomination or
recommendation of other bodies. Some of the members of the committee
must be women. All matters relating to the exercise of the powers of
the education authority (except those of rating and borrowing) must be
referred to the committee, and before exercising any of their powers
the council must (except in cases of emergency) receive and consider
the report of the education committee with respect to the matter in
question. As to higher education the local education authority must
consider the educational needs of their area and take such steps as
seem to them desirable, after consultation with the Board of
Education, to supply or aid the supply of education other than
elementary, and to promote the general co-ordination of all forms of
education. For this purpose they are authorized to levy a rate not
exceeding 2d. in the L, except with the consent of the Local
Government Board. They must also devote to the same purpose the sums
received by them in respect of the residue of the English share of the
local taxation (customs and excise) duties already referred to. See
further EDUCATION and TE