Border Force and UKBA begin operating separately

The Border Force and the UK Border Agency (UKBA) officially began operating separately from last week following publication of the Vine Report into unauthorised border checks.

Home Secretary Theresa May took the decision to split the two organisations after the report concluded that last summer’s border checks fiasco was down to poor communication, poor oversight and confusion among ministers and senior officials about their roles and responsibilities.

The new interim head of the Border Force, Chief Constable Brian Moore, took up his position last week. He will lead the newly-formed Home Office operational command that will be responsible for immigration and customs, including UK controls in France and Belgium.

He said: “I am delighted to start as the new interim head of the Border Force as we officially move out of the UK Border Agency and into a new Home Office command. Securing the borders and protecting our communities from crime is a huge challenge and vitally important to the UK.

“I see my appointment as a reflection of the importance of the Border Force in national and international law enforcement and I am hugely excited by this opportunity to make ours amongst the safest borders in the world.”

The UK Border Agency, under Chief Executive Rob Whiteman, will continue to be responsible for immigration casework, in-country enforcement and removals activity, the immigration detention estate and overseas immigration operations.

Following the publication of the report, which was carried out by John Vine, the Independent Chief Inspector of the UKBA, Mrs May said a new “management culture” was needed.

She said: “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.”