Statutory Programme Committee appointed under the Education Act 1944.
Under the initial education scheme functions were delegated to five subcommittees: Schools Management; Further Education; Finance and General Purposes; Special Services; Sites and Buildings.
The number of subcommittees was reduced to three in May 1977: Schools; Further Education; General Services.
In May 1985 the General Services Subcommittee was abolished and an Education Urgency Subcommittee appointed.
In 1986 an Education Awards Subcommittee was established.
In September 1991 the subcommittee structure was again revised to reflect changes required by the Local Government Housing Act 1989 (creating a distinction between subcommittees exercising statutory powers delegated by the parent committee and working parties exercising a purely advisory role) and also recommended in an Audit Commission report of November 1989, namely: (1) that it should reflect current trends in the delivery and management of services i.e. towards greater evaluation and monitoring, financial and managerial delegation to institutions, competitive tendering; (2) that it should enable the Education Committee to concentrate on policy issues rather than operational and implementation matters, thus reflecting changes in its role inherent in the Education Reform Act 1988. Under this revised scheme functions were delegated to three subcommittees: Education Awards; Education Service Monitoring and Performance; Education Policy Implementation. In accordance with County Council practice, urgency subcommittees were adopted for the Education Committee and its subcommittees. In addition three working parties were established: Under Fives (later Early Years); Special Needs; Community Education Development.
The structure was again revised in April 1996 in order to simplify the system and reduce pressure on members and officers around the two main functions of the Education Committee: (1) provision and (2) monitoring/evaluation of services. Five subcommittees were created: Education Management; Schools' Performance and Quality; Education Awards; Early Years; Youth and Community (later Community Education (Youth and Adult)). Again the practice of appointing urgency committees was continued.