UK Border Agency
| UK Border Agency | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | UKBA |
Logo of the UK Border Agency
|
|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1 April, 2008 |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Dissolved | 1 April 2013 |
| Superseding agency |
Border Force UK Visas and Immigration Immigration Enforcement |
| Employees | 23,500 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
|
National agency (Operations jurisdiction) |
United Kingdom |
| Legal jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| General nature |
|
| Specialist jurisdictions |
|
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF |
| Sworn members | 10,000 |
| Unsworn members | 10,000 |
| Minister responsible | Robert Goodwill, Minister of State for Immigration |
| Agency executive | Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive |
| Parent agency | Home Office |
| Facilities | |
| UKBA 42m Customs Cutters | Five |
| Planes | Yes |
| Detection dogs | Over 100 |
| Website | |
| ukba |
|
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(UKBA) was the border control agency of the Government of the United Kingdom and part of the Home Office that was superseded by UK Visas and Immigration in April 2013.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.
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 two new organisations; UK Visas and Immigration focusing on the visa system and Immigration Enforcement, focusing on immigration law enforcement. Prior to this in April 2012, the border control division of the UKBA was separated from the rest of the agency as the Border Force.
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