TECs aim to improve skill levels and education and training in their area and have strategic forums to take forward the National Education and Training Targets. Where the Learning City initiative is inspired by the TEC, there is no problem, and no visible conflict has arisen where the TEC covers a greater area than the learning community. Where the City and TEC boundaries are more or less the same, however, the relationship between the Learning City, its targets and actions and the TEC's role is sometimes confused. Funding Learning City initiatives receive little specific funding, partly because they are at an early stage of development. In most cases, resources, often in-kind, are supplied by TECS, educational providers and local government.
Some initiatives employ staff.
Almost all the initiatives are aware they must raise additional funding to increase the resources available for lifelong learning. Bids have been made to the single Regeneration Budget, the EU and for other funds to increase the budget for learning. The biggest resource available to develop learning within the local communities, however, comes from the organisations involved in learning cities themselves. The initiatives offer the opportunity for added value that joint working can bring. Learning City Network A Network of Learning Cities, towns and communities was established in 1995.