Part 4: Consumer rights and disputes Accreditation: procedure etc Section 297: Determination of applications for accreditation or variation of accreditation
This section sets out requirements applying to the Secretary of State on receipt of applications for accreditation or for variations of accreditation.
	Subsection (1) is self-explanatory.
	Subsections (2) to (7) and (13) deal with the determination of applications for accreditation and subsections (8) to (13) deal with the determination of applications for variations.
	Subsection (2), paragraphs (a) and (b), requires that the Secretary of State must, as soon as reasonably practicable, consider an application for accreditation and make a decision.
	Subsection (2), paragraph (b), and subsection (3) allow the Secretary of State to: grant the accreditation applied for; grant an accreditation which is more limited in terms of the ADR that the ADR provider is permitted to carry out or the special ADR arrangement the ADR provider is permitted to make; or reject the application.
	Subsection (2), paragraph (c), requires the Secretary of State to notify applicants of the decision in writing and to provide reasons for any decision to grant a limited accreditation or reject the application.
	Subsection (4) provides that the Secretary of State may impose conditions on an accreditation.
	Subsection (5) provides that the Secretary of State can only approve an application for accreditation if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the applicant will meet the accreditation criteria set out in Schedule 25 after the accreditation is granted.
	Subsection (6) provides that, as a default, an accreditation is not time limited, but the Secretary of State may grant accreditation on a time limited basis. If the accreditation is time limited, the notice of decision must say so and specify the period of the accreditation.
	Subsection (7) is self-explanatory.
	Subsections (8) to (12), relating to the determination of applications for variations of accreditation, largely reflect subsections (2) to (7) with appropriate modification.
	Subsection (13) requires that the notice of the decision to accredit or vary the accreditation of an ADR provider must set out any conditions applicable to the accreditation or its variation and provide reasons for them.
	Subsection (14) enables an accreditation to be subject to conditions which make the ADR provider responsible for the acts or omissions of persons carrying out ADR under special ADR arrangements made by that ADR provider. This is to ensure that enforcement action under section 298 or 302 can be taken against the accredited ADR provider in relation to acts or omissions of that person.