Regulation 3 Receipt of a request

(1)

On receipt of a request, the relevant authority must, subject to regulation 5—

(a)

acknowledge receipt of the request in writing as soon as is practicable,

(b)

make such enquiries of the prospective adopters as appear to the relevant authority necessary to clarify—

(i)

the reasons why they consider that the relevant authority should be satisfied that the case is exceptional, or

(ii)

any other information that the prospective adopters have submitted,

(c)

make such further enquiries as the relevant authority considers appropriate, and

(d)

ask the prospective adopters whether there exists any further information that they have not submitted but that they consider relevant to the request.

(2)

The relevant authority may defer making a determination in accordance with regulation 4 until—

(a)

the prospective adopters confirm that there is no further information that they consider relevant to the request, or

(b)

where the prospective adopters indicate that there is further information that they have not submitted but that they consider relevant to the request, that information has been received.