ABSTRACT
The 1988 Education Reform Act marked the beginning of a new configuration in the governance of local education services by introducing ‘local management of schools’, open enrolment, and schools being allowed to ‘opt out’ of their Local Education Authorities (LEA) and acquire grant maintained status. This chapter aims to investigate the organisational and management changes in post-16 education and training following the further and higher education (FHE) Act 1992, focusing on how the newly incorporated colleges are managing the change process. It focuses on research undertaken during 1993–1994 and looks at change from different perspectives. The overall impact of the FHE Act was to eliminate the function of LEAs as the core providers of post-16 education. Incorporation presented many challenges for the colleges in terms of organisational change. Incorporation has led to the development of a whole new network of relationships between the colleges and the local authority, other agencies and client groups and the wider community.
