ABSTRACT
The local authority associations have a continuing relationship with government. The Association of Education Committees had survived the perils of the Local Government Act of 1958 which substituted general for specific grants for education along with other services. It also required local authority associations to negotiate for the general grant. The County Councils' Association (CCA) has represented the counties of England and Wales since the turn of the century. The Association of Municipal Corporations (AMC) is virtually identical to the CCA in its impact on education policy-making. The AMC is opposed, in evidence to the Select Committee, to the proposal of a higher education commission. The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) is significant in demonstrating a further aspect of interest groups: the way in which they cause change more effectively at the local rather than at the central level. The very existence of the ILEA testifies to the success of interest groups.
