THE UK Border Agency (UKBA) is set be scrapped the home secretary Theresa May revealed, saying "its performance was not good enough".
The organisation which formed in 2008 was connected to the Home Office as an arms-length agency.
Addressing MPs in the House of Commons on Tueaday (26) May said the agency will now be split into parts, focusing on the visa system and on immigration law enforcement. Both parts will report directly to ministers.
It is the second time the UK Border Agency has been split in just over a year.
She said: "But the performance of what remains of UKBA is still not good enough. The Agency struggles with the volume of its casework, which has led to historical backlogs running into the hundreds of thousands.
"The number of illegal immigrants removed does not keep up with the number of people who are here illegally. And while the visa operation is internationally competitive, it could and should get better still."
May added: "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."
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said problems around enforcement at UKBA have “got worse on her watch"
She told MPs: "The home secretary is right to say there are problems at UKBA and it has had a series of problems over many years.
"And we would have some sympathy with your proposals but the trouble with the proposals is you are simply refusing to recognise problems around enforcement and effectiveness at UKBA have got worse and not better on your watch."
