15.—(1) An authorisation scheme provided for by a competent authority must be based on criteria which preclude the competent authority from exercising its power of assessment in an arbitrary manner.
(2) The criteria must be—
(a)non-discriminatory,
(b)justified by an overriding reason relating to the public interest,
(c)proportionate to that public interest objective,
(d)clear and unambiguous,
(e)objective,
(f)made public in advance, and
(g)transparent and accessible.
(3) The conditions imposed by a competent authority for granting authorisation for a new establishment under an authorisation scheme must not duplicate requirements and controls—
(a)to which the provider of the service is already subject in the United Kingdom or in another EEA state, and
(b)that are equivalent or essentially comparable as regards their purpose.
(4) The provider of the service must assist the competent authority by providing any necessary information requested by the competent authority regarding the requirements and controls referred to in paragraph (3); and paragraph (3) does not apply if the provider has not provided that information within a reasonable time of being requested to do so.
(5) An authorisation granted by a competent authority under an authorisation scheme must enable the provider of the service to have access to the service activity, or to exercise that activity, throughout the United Kingdom, including by means of setting up agencies, subsidiaries, branches or offices, except where an authorisation for each individual establishment or a limitation of the authorisation to a particular part or area of the United Kingdom is justified by an overriding reason relating to the public interest.
(6) In the case of a competent authority whose functions relate only to part of the United Kingdom, references in paragraph (5) to the United Kingdom are to that part of the United Kingdom.
(7) A competent authority must grant an authorisation under an authorisation scheme as soon as it is established, in the light of an appropriate examination, that the conditions for authorisation have been met.
(8) Except in the case of the granting of an authorisation, any decision of the competent authority relating to an authorisation under an authorisation scheme, including refusal or withdrawal of an authorisation, must be fully reasoned.