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Our organisation

In April 2008 the UK Border Agency was launched as a shadow agency of the Home Office. A year later, we reached full agency status. 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 Partnership Agreement between the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs and the Home Office formalises our relationship with HM Revenue & Customs. It also contains detailed border targets for the delivery of excise, customs and international trade, criminal cash and VAT, which build on the delivery commitments in our business plan.

Framework Agreement

The UK Border Agency Framework Agreement sets out the terms of our relationship with the wider Home Office, including the respective roles of ministers, the Permanent Secretary and the Chief Executive. It also covers our relationship with HM Revenue & Customs and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.