The fallout from the UK Border Agency’s relaxation of border checks reached a head today as Theresa May announced that the UK Border agency will be split in two.
The UK Border Force will be a separate law-enforcement body with its own “ethos”, and the current border agency will be split up at the beginning of March.
Brian Moore, Wiltshire Chief Constable will lead the new border force.
The home secretary had made the decision following the publication of the report by John Vine, independent chief inspector of the UK Border Agency, in which he wrote, “Based on the evidence provided in this report, there is much to do in order to provide the assurance that the public and Parliament expect.”
In her statement to parliament, May revealed the key findings of the report, with immigration minister Damian Green sat beside her.
She said, “The Vine report reveals a Border Force that suspended important checks without permission; that spent millions on new technologies but chose not to use them; that was led by managers who did not communicate with their staff; and that sent reports to ministers that were inaccurate, unbalanced and excluded key information.
“The Vine report makes a series of recommendations about how to improve the operation at the border, and I accept them all.
“I do not believe the answer to the very significant problems exposed in the Vine Report is just a series of management changes.
“The Border Force needs a whole new management culture. There is no getting away from the fact that UKBA, of which the Border Force is part, has been a troubled organisation since it was founded in 2008.
“From foreign national prisoners to the asylum backlog to the removal of illegal immigrants, it has reacted to a series of problems instead of positively managing its responsibilities.
“With a new chief executive, and a plan for comprehensive change I beliebe that UKBA is in better hands for the future.
“But I also believe that the extent of the transformational change required – in the agency’s caseworking functions and in the Border Force – is too great for one organisation.
“I can therefore tell the house that from the 1st of March the UK Border Force will be split from UKBA, and will become a separate operational command, with its own ethos of law enforcement, led by its own director general, and accountable directly to ministers.”
She went on to add that the changes “will take time, but we will make them as quickly as possible.
“They will ensure that not only will we have a stronger border in future, but that the border force becomes the disciplined, law enforcement organisation it was established to be.”
