Regulation 3 Receipt of a request

(1)

On receipt of a request, the Scottish Ministers must–

(a)

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

(b)

make such enquiries of the prospective adopters as appear necessary to clarify–

(i)

the reasons why the prospective adopters consider that the Scottish Ministers should be satisfied that the case is exceptional; or

(ii)

any other information that has been submitted by the prospective adopters;

(c)

make such further enquiries as they consider appropriate; and

(d)

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

(2)

The Scottish Ministers 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 consider relevant to the request; that information has been received.