I think leezyjet has summed up the situation in the UK perfectly.
Having previously worked in such an enviroment, i can honestly say that the function described as load controller is without doubt the most functional and pro-active, it is invaluable having someone at airside who can make operational based decisions on issues such as W/B or help to advise reps on other things such as slots, which would be passed from the ops office etc.
There is and can be nothing worse than just " delivering papers " and or having to send messages to a faceless person at the end of a phone or sita link in some far away country.
Unfortunately many major players now see this as the way forward, i think it is better to have 2 signatures on a loadsheet, the captain's and the person who prepared it and to have it signed at completion in the cockpit.
If the " Dispatcher / Load controller " also has knowledge of weather and an ability to read the basics from a flight plan (ie) Fuel, flight times, routing, alternates etc then all the better, however as we all know the financial realities within the industry don't always allow for such people to be remunerated accordingly therefore the 19yr old paperboy or girl " mutts nuts " as leezy calls them are likely to become more the norm.
However despite the constant bashing that several Handling agents constantly receive on this forum, Load controllers still exist at several of them, at LHR i believe that SGS, Aviance, Servisair, Alitalia and Menzies to name a few still employ localised load controllers and a operations office, so all is not lost yet !