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UK Border Agency 'not good enough' and being scrapped | |
(35 minutes later) | |
The UK Border Agency is to be abolished with its work returning to the Home Office, Theresa May has announced. | |
The home secretary told MPs "its performance was not good enough". | |
The UK Border Agency was formed in 2008 as an arms-length agency of the Home Office but Mrs May said this had led to a "secretive culture". | |
It will now be split into parts focusing on the visa system and on immigration law enforcement. Both parts will report directly to ministers. | |
It is the second time the UK Border Agency has been split in just over a year. | |
Last year, Mrs May announced that the UK Border Force - responsible for day-to-day operations - would stop being part of the agency and become a separate law-enforcement body. | |
'Not fit for purpose' | |
The home secretary said the improvement in performance of the Border Force showed the benefits of having smaller, more focused structures. | |
Mrs May's latest statement comes after fresh criticism of the agency's performance. | |
MPs criticised the border agency in a report published on Monday, describing it as "not fit for purpose". | |
The Home Affairs Committee also said that for years the UK Border Agency had repeatedly supplied it with incorrect information about the size of the backlog of asylum cases. | |
The agency was created in 2008 by the merger of the Border and Immigration Agency, UKvisas and parts of HM Revenue and Customs. | |
This followed Labour Home Secretary John Reid's 2006 declaration that the Home Office's immigration directorate was "not fit for purpose". | |
The UK Border Agency is responsible for securing the UK border at air, rail and sea ports and migration controls, such as the issuing of visas. It has faced frequent criticism over its performance. | |
The UK Border Agency employs the full-time equivalent of 23,500 people across the world, including 13,100 in the UK. | The UK Border Agency employs the full-time equivalent of 23,500 people across the world, including 13,100 in the UK. |
Its chief executive is Rob Whiteman, who is due to face questions from MPs on the Home Affairs Committee shortly after Mrs May's statement. | Its chief executive is Rob Whiteman, who is due to face questions from MPs on the Home Affairs Committee shortly after Mrs May's statement. |