May to split up UK Border Agency after damning report

UKBA will be split into two organisations, Theresa May told the House of Commons today, one to handle immigration and visas, and a separate law enforcement arm.

Neither body will have agency status, and both will report to ministers as part of the Home Office.

May said one of the big problems with UKBA was the computer system, which will now be reviewed. A new immigration bill will also be introduced to deal with remaining issues.

The home secretary said the UKBA in its current form is struggling with the volume of casework is faces: “The agency has been a troubled organisation since it was formed in 2008 and its performance is not good enough.

UKBA was given agency status in order to keep its work at an arm’s length from ministers. That was wrong. Theresa May, home secretary

“In truth, the agency was not set up to absorb the level of mass immigration that we saw under the last government. This meant the agency has never had the space to modernise its structures and systems and get on top of its workload.”

Ms May also said the new entities will not have “agency” status and therefore will sit in the Home Office, reporting to ministers. She said: “UKBA was given agency status in order to keep its work at an arm’s length from ministers. That was wrong. It created a closed, secretive and defensive culture.”

The home secretary said a board would be formed to oversee all the organisations in the immigration system – immigration policy, the Passport Service, Border Force and the two new entities.

“UKBA was given agency status in order to keep its work at an arm’s length from ministers. That was wrong. It created a closed, secretive and defensive culture.”

A board will now be formed to oversee all organisations involved with running the immigration system, comprising immigration policy, the passport service, border force and the two new entities.

Responding to the announcement Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said “Only time will tell if the measures she proposes today will have a positive effect on the work of the Home Office.”

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed problems with immigration have got “worse not better” under Mrs May’s leadership.

“We would have some sympathy with your proposals but the trouble with the proposals is you are simply refusing to recognise problems around enforcement and effectiveness at UKBA have got worse and not better on your watch.”

Report into backlogs

The home affairs select committee warned on Monday that it would take 24 years to clear a backlog of asylum and immigration cases equivalent to the population of Iceland.

In its report into the work of the UKBA between July and September last year, the committee noted that four new types of backlog came to light, taking the total number of cases to over 300,000.

The committee launched a scathing attack on the head of Britain’s tax office for “catastrophic leadership failure” when she was in charge of the country’s border controls.

The report claimed Lin Homer was promoted to the £180,000-a-year role of chief executive of HM Revenue & Customs after her performance during the four and a half years she spent at the top of the UKBA. Ms Homer said it was “unfair” to blame her for matters that occurred after she left the agency.

The current UKBA chief executive, Rob Whiteman, was also criticised for failing to inform the committee that the agency had supplied parliament with incorrect information since 2006.