The UK Border Agency (UKBA) is to be closed down after continued poor performance, with its role being taken back by the Home Office.

The Home Office will now take back the functions that had been originally taken over by the UKBA in 2008, what the agency split off from the Home Office as a separate organisation.

Home Secretary, Theresa May, had told MP’s that the UKBA’s “performance was not good enough” echoing the comments of past Home Secretaries.

Mrs May added: “The Agency struggles with the volume of its casework, which has led to historical backlogs running into the hundreds of thousands.”

The return of services provided by the UKBA to under the Home Office will see MP’s being directly reported to. "UKBA was given agency status in order to keep its work at an arm's length from ministers. That was wrong. It created a closed, secretive and defensive culture", said Mrs May.

The move comes after the UK Border Force separated from the UKBA in 2012, having since gone on to enjoy significant performance benefits from the move.

Expectations are now on how the new division of the services carried out by the UKBA will affect its past ‘ineffective performance’, having undergone division in the past with no turnaround.

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