asked Her Majesty's Government:

Who are the external assessors sampling the quality of asylum decisions; and how many cases they examined in each of the past two years. [HL1023]

Samples of asylum decisions are externally assessed by the Treasury Solicitor's Department: 363 decisions were assessed in 2004-05 and 325 decisions were assessed in 2005-06. Additionally, UNHCR assesses a sample of asylum decisions under the Quality Initiative Project. The latest available information is contained in the UNHCR report Quality Initiative—Third Report to the Minister (March 2006) which can be found on the Home Office website at www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/unhcr.