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Our organisation

In April 2008 the UK Border Agency was launched as a shadow agency of the Home Office. Shadow status is a transitional period of operation which we are undergoing before becoming a full executive agency. Agency status gives us and our people the freedom to operate and focus our resources within a clearly defined mandate from the Home Office. It provides us with:

  • a sharper focus on delivery, better meeting the public's expectations in maintaining secure borders, finding and removing illegal immigrants and tackling those who facilitate them coming here;
  • clearer accountability, not only to the public, but also to our customers, to our partners and to ministers;
  • greater operational freedom to respond to the challenges we face and to manage our people and resources more effectively;
  • the ability to reinvest savings into improving our business delivery;
  • an opportunity to forge new ways of working and new relationships with our partners; and
  • a new identity to bring our staff together under a clear, single brand with unified clarity of purpose.

Partnership Agreement

The Home Office and Her Majestys Reveue & Customs (HMRC) Partnership Agreement formalises the relationship between HMRC and the Agency for the interim period from 1 April 2008 until full agency status is achieved. It also contains detailed border targets for delivery of excise, customs and international trade, criminal cash and VAT which build on our delivery commitments in the Agency business plan.

UK Border Agency Draft Framework Agreement

The 'UK Border Agency Draft Framework Agreement' was published on 19 August 2008 and updates the Border and Immigration Agency Draft Framework Agreement (published in May 2007) in the light of the creation of the new Agency.

The Draft Framework Agreement is a technical document which sets out the terms of the relationship between the UK Border Agency and the wider Department, including the respective roles of Ministers, the Permanent Secretary and the Chief Executive. It also covers out the relationship with HM Revenue & Customs and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. A final version of the Framework Agreement will be published when the Agency achieves full executive agency status, which we expect to be in 2009.