The UK Border Agency (UKBA) was the border control agency of the Government of the United Kingdom and part of the Home Office that was superseded by UK Visas and Immigration, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement in April 2013. It was formed as an executive agency on 1 April 2008 by a merger of the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA), UKvisas and the detection functions of HM Revenue and Customs. The decision to create a single border control organisation was taken following a Cabinet Office report.
The agency's head office was 2 Marsham Street, London. Rob Whiteman became Chief Executive in September 2011. Over 23,000 staff worked for the agency, in over 130 countries. It was divided into four main operations, each under the management of a senior director: operations, immigration and settlement, international operations and visas and law enforcement.
The agency came under formal criticism from the Parliamentary Ombudsman for consistently poor service, a backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases, and a large and increasing number of complaints. In the first nine months of 2009–10, 97% of investigations reported by the Ombudsman resulted in a complaint against the agency being upheld. The complainants were asylum, residence, or other immigration applicants.
In April 2012, the border control division of the UKBA was separated from the rest of the agency as the Border Force. On 26 March 2013, following a scathing report into the agency's incompetence by the Home Affairs Select Committee, it was announced by Home Secretary Theresa May that the UK Border Agency would be abolished and its work returned to the Home Office. Its executive agency status was removed as of 31 March 2013 and the agency was split into three new organisations; UK Visas and Immigration focusing on the visa system, Immigration Enforcement focusing on immigration law enforcement and Border Force, providing immigration and customs law enforcement at ports of entry in the UK.
Role
The agency attained full agency status on 1 April 2009. Immigration Officers and Customs Officers retained their own powers for the enforcement and administration of the UK's borders, although management of the new organisation was integrated and progressively officers were cross trained and empowered to deal with customs and immigration matters at the border. The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 received Royal Assent on 21 July 2009. This allowed the concurrent exercise of customs powers by HMRC Commissioners and the Director of Border Revenue; it was the first step in overhauling immigration and customs legislation.
The UK Border Agency had a staff of 23,500 people located in over 130 countries. Overseas staff vetted visa applications and operated an intelligence and liaison network, acting as the first layer of border control for the UK. The organisation operated as the single force at the border for the UK. Local immigration teams worked within the regions of the United Kingdom, liaising with the police, HMRC, local authorities and the public. In August 2009 HM Revenue and Customs transferred several thousand customs detection officers to the agency, following Parliament agreeing to give it customs control powers. The agency then began to investigate smuggling. The agency was developing a single primary border control line at the UK border combining controls of people and goods entering the country.
The agency's E-Borders programme checked travellers to and from the UK in advance of travel, using data provided by passengers via their airline or ferry operators. The organisation used automatic clearance gates at main international airports.
The agency managed the UK Government's limit on non-European economic migration to the UK. It was responsible for in-country enforcement operations, investigating organised immigration crime and to detecting immigration offenders including illegal entrants and overstayers. The body was also responsible for the deportation of foreign national criminals at the end of sentences.
The UK Border Agency's budget combined with that of the Border Force was £2.17 billion in 2011–12. Under the spending review the agency was required to cut costs by up to 23%. At its peak the agency employed around 25,000 staff, but 5,000 posts were due to be cut by 2015 against the 2011-12 levels.