(1) If the applicant has complied with all procedural requirements and any request for further information or a document under section 39(1), the authority must consider the application and decide—
(a) to approve the proposed change to the guideline; or
(b) to refuse to approve the proposed change.
(2) The authority must refuse to approve the proposed change if the authority considers the change requires the guideline to be evaluated for accreditation.
(3) The authority must make the decision as soon as practicable and not after 1 December in the year before the year in which accreditation of the guideline ends (the decision day).