Border Force still nowhere to be found.

N2D have been trying very very hard to find the Border Force. They've rang and e-mailed the Home Office and UKBA but got no answers. The Home Office enquiries line have not even heard of them which is very worrying. UKBA enquiries line only talks to Immigrants even when you do get through. Home Office suggested getting in touch with UKBA and UKBA suggested getting in touch with Home Office. Press Office have no details either except for 2 Commons statements by Theresa May.

In the mean time, somewhere in the region of 1800 people have had their goods seized since 1st March by god knows who! I'll try Kings Cross lost and found service or maybe I should report it to the police. :) xxx

UK Border Force is born ... and disappears! ##UPDATED##

 The Home Secretary Theresa May stated on the 20th Feb 2012 "I can therefore tell the House that from 1 March, the UK Border Force will be split from UKBA and will become a separate operational command, with its own ethos of law enforcement, led by its own Director General, and accountable directly to ministers."


Well today is the 1st March but there is no sign of this newly born UK Border Force. lt has no website, no contact details or anything. There is no reference to it at all on the UKBA website, neither in latest news or anywhere else. Nor is it listed or referred to on the Home Office website.


Enquiries to the Home Office were met with "Who are the UK Border Force?" and then they tried to give me another number to ring. l told them that the number they gave me was the UKBA number and was totally useless. lt was useless when you tried to contact the UKBA themselves so trying for the new UK Border Force would be pointless. They said that's the only number they had. They then asked where l had got information about a UK Border Force, so l told them "Your boss, the Home Secretary Theresa May". 


l then made enquiries to the press office and got same response. They said they'd get back to me :)


So, if you see the UK Border Force anywhere please let the Home Office know where they are. However they may have become a secret operational command and have no contact details at all. :)

UPDATE

Well it seems to exist but as to where it is or how to contact it remains a mystery. lt's name is simply Border Force and not UK Border Force according the statement of Therasa May today in the HOC ... she said :-

From today, the Border Force has been split from the UK Border Agency to become a separate operational command within the Home Office. We will finalise the detail of the operational and structural arrangements over the coming weeks, but I would like to inform the House of the high level arrangements that we have put in place.


Brian Moore, Chief Constable of Wiltshire police, has taken up post as the interim Head of the Border Force and with the agreement of HM Treasury I have designated him as the Director of Border Revenue under section 6 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. Rob Whiteman will remain Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency. The Border Force will be responsible for entry controls and customs functions at the border, including our juxtaposed controls in France and Belgium. The UK Border Agency will be responsible for immigration casework, in-country enforcement activity, the immigration detention estate and our overseas immigration operations.


All obligations, commitments and undertakings given by the UK Border Agency will continue to be honoured by the Border Force where they relate to operations at the border. Relevant agreements, guidance and documentation will be amended in due course but for the time being should be read, where appropriate, as applying to the Border Force as well as the UK Border Agency.


John Vine, the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, will be responsible for the inspection of both the UK Border Agency and the Border Force.

UK Border Force from Mar 2012 ##UPDATED##

l can't honestly see what much difference the split of UK Border Force from UKBA will have. The only difference is there is no control from the Chief Executive. According to the UKBA Organisation chart Border force was virtually independent anyway. There is no connection shown with any of the other departments.
UPDATE
We now understand that a senior policeman will be in charge of this lot. We shall be seeking his/her opinion and stance on the current interview tactics and 'forced' signing of a 'confession'. At the same time we'll take the opportunity to bring up recording the interview.

Latest news from UKBA?   ....Zilch! they mention nothing about the changes at all :)


......................................................................

Here's UKBA organisation chart with Border force removed

So  Border force will become UK Border Force :-

So lots of new job positions and titles no doubt, uniforms, badging, stationery blah blah blah  ££££££££'s. What happens with the National Post Seizure Unit (where you send Appeals) is unclear as it is still UKBA. Same goes for UKBA Complaints Team.

Here is another chart that shows the current organisation of UKBA in more detail. lt's not great to navigate round but que sera sera. You can tell it's government ... they've got more departments and titles than "soft joe"