Key powers in new Border Security Act start 5 Jan 2026
The Home Office has signed the first commencement regulations for the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025. Published on legislation.gov.uk and made on 15 December 2025, they switch on key parts of the Act from 5 January 2026, with some other provisions scheduled to start automatically on 2 February 2026. This piece walks you through what changes and who needs to pay attention.
The headline structural change is a new statutory role: the Border Security Commander. The Secretary of State must designate a civil servant to lead this work, consult partner authorities on strategic priorities, and publish an annual report that is laid before Parliament. A board of representatives from partner bodies will support the Commander, and there is a duty on those bodies to co-operate so efforts are not duplicated and gaps are not missed.
For learners, it helps to view this Commander role as a co-ordination hub. The Commander sets priorities after consultation, focuses on making different agencies more effective together, can delegate functions to other civil servants when needed, and can be given directions and guidance by the Secretary of State. The armed forces are explicitly excluded from these provisions, which keeps military tasks and civilian border security functions distinct.
From 5 January, several new crimes take effect aimed at the tools and materials used in immigration offences. Supplying or offering to supply a relevant article, knowing or suspecting it will be used for offences under sections 24 or 25 of the Immigration Act 1971, becomes a crime. Being concerned in that supply is also criminal if you know it will be used that way. Handling those articles, or being concerned in handling them, carries similar liability. The law defines a relevant article broadly, with specific exclusions listed in the Act.
Another offence targets the preparation stage for unlawful journeys. Collecting, possessing or viewing information intended for use in transporting people from outside the UK to within the UK becomes criminal where the arrival would itself be an offence under section 24 of the 1971 Act. The Act also gives extra‑territorial reach to certain offences, meaning conduct outside the UK can still fall within scope in defined circumstances.
There is a new safety-focused offence tied to Channel crossings. If a person does an act during a journey by water from France, Belgium or the Netherlands to the UK that causes or risks death or serious injury to another person, and that journey results in an existing offence under the 1971 Act, that conduct can now be prosecuted as a separate crime. This is aimed at dangerous tactics seen in small‑boat crossings.
Important search powers for electronic devices begin as well. Authorised officers, such as immigration officers, National Crime Agency officers and certain constables, may search a person who has entered the UK unlawfully if they have reasonable grounds to suspect the person has an electronic device containing information linked to immigration offences under sections 24 or 25 of the 1971 Act. This reasonable grounds test matters: officers must be able to point to facts that justify the search.
If a device is found, it can be seized and retained. Even if it is not found during the search, a device can be taken if it appears to have been in the person’s possession. Devices may be passed to another body where there is a reasonable belief the device or data is evidence of a different crime and that body is responsible for investigating that crime. The Act then allows officials to access, examine, copy and retain information that relates, or may relate, to the commission (past or future) of offences under sections 25 or 25A of the 1971 Act, and to use that information for prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution.
Safeguards are written in. Provisions in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 on protected material apply when relevant articles are retained, including rules around legally privileged, excluded or special material. In simple terms, there are carve‑outs designed to protect certain categories of information and to guide how retained material must be handled. The Secretary of State can, by regulations, extend who may use these powers, which makes parliamentary oversight of any future expansion an area to watch.
One of the most debated changes sits beyond search powers: tighter conditions on immigration status and bail. Section 46 adds electronic monitoring, curfews, inclusion and exclusion zones, and other conditions the Secretary of State considers appropriate to the list of possible conditions on grants of limited leave, or on bail. These conditions can only be imposed if the person poses a threat to national security or public safety, or has committed a specified crime. This is not a blanket rule; it is a targeted power with thresholds written into the law.
What this means if you are studying or teaching this topic: the law is trying to reach three pressure points at once. First, co‑ordination, via the Commander, so agencies pull in the same direction. Second, supply chains and planning, via offences covering articles and information before people ever set off. Third, investigatory reach, via device searches and data access, balanced with protections for legally privileged or special material. Use these three aims to organise your notes.
A simple scenario helps. Imagine an immigration officer, with specific facts to hand, suspects a person who has entered unlawfully is carrying a phone used to arrange transport across the Channel. The officer can search for the device, seize it, and examine data linked to facilitation offences, while following the 2001 Act rules on protected material. Separately, if an individual on limited leave is assessed as a public safety risk, electronic monitoring or a curfew could be imposed, but only if the statutory test is met.
The dates matter for planning. The first wave of powers begins on 5 January 2026 under the commencement regulations made on 15 December 2025. Some other sections started automatically on Royal Assent, and a further set is due to commence automatically on 2 February 2026. For anyone running a classroom discussion, mark these dates clearly and track any Home Office guidance that follows so you can compare the text of the law with how it is applied in practice.