The ILEA was technically a special committee of the Greater London Council (GLC), which was formed in 1965. Its membership included GLC Councillors from the inner London boroughs and the City of London.
The GLC's precedessor was the London County Council (LCC), formed in 1899. The LCC encompassed all elements of the local government of London, including education. When the GLC was established to act as the strategic authority for the wider area of Greater London, responsibility for education in the inner London boroughs continued to be the responsibility of one body - the ILEA - whilst the outer London boroughs remained education authorities in their own right.
Following the abolition of the GLC, and consequently the ILEA, in 1990, responsibility for the administration of education in inner London fell briefly to the London Residuary Body before being devolved completely to the inner London boroughs themselves.