UK Immigration News

The Institute for Government, a London think tank which aims to encourage more effective government, has questioned whether the abolition of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) announced last week is a good idea.

Sir Ian McGee, a former senior civil servant and now a fellow at the Institute, has issued a statement saying 'Restructuring creates an impression, superficially, of action to solve problems. The acid test is will performance improve as a result? It is unclear that the organisation…will be significantly improved simply by shuffling the pieces'.

The Guardian, a national UK newspaper, has received a leaked email trail from UK civil servants which seems to show that UK ministers considered the possibility of preventing the children of illegal immigrants from attending free UK state schools to prevent 'education tourism'. It seems that any such plans were quickly dropped but ministers are now considering asking schools to check on the immigration status of both pupils and their parents as part of the admissions process.

On Tuesday 26th March 2013, a committee of MPs interviewed two senior civil servants about the way the UK's immigration services will be run in future. The interview came just minutes after the Home Secretary, Theresa May, had made a surprise announcement that the UK Border Agency, the body that deals with immigration and asylum in the UK, was to be abolished.

The UK's Home Secretary, Theresa May MP, has told the House of Commons that the UK's main immigration authority, the UK Border Agency (UKBA), is to be split because it is 'not good enough'. She says it will split into two bodies one of which will deal with UK visa applications and the other with finding and removing illegal immigrants.

A committee of MPs has issued a report about the UK Border Agency (UKBA) which states that its already poor performance is getting worse. The report says that senior staff should not receive any performance-related bonuses until 'there is evidence that the backlog [of unresolved cases] is being substantially reduced and new backlogs are not emerging'.

The Bishop of Dudley, the Right Reverend David Walker, has attacked UK politicians for greatly exaggerating problems caused by immigration. He told UK Sunday newspaper The Observer, 'The tone of the current debate suggests that it is better for 10 people with a legitimate reason for coming to this country to be refused entry than for one person to get in who has no good cause. It is wholly disproportionate as a response'.