Where the Secretary of State considers that one or more matters relating to the request for a direction would be more satisfactorily resolved by holding a hearing attended by the parties, he shall give the parties written notice accordingly.

The date fixed by the Secretary of State for the holding of a hearing shall be not later than 6 weeks after the date of the notice referred to in paragraph (1).

Unless the Secretary of State agrees a lesser period of notice with the parties, he shall give to the parties not less than 2 weeks' written notice of the date, time and place fixed by him for the holding of the hearing.

The Secretary of State may vary the date fixed for the holding of the hearing, whether or not the date as varied is within the period of 6 weeks mentioned in paragraph (2); and paragraph (3) applies to a variation of a date as it applied to the date originally fixed.

The Secretary of State may vary the time or place for the holding of a hearing and shall give the parties such notice of any variation as appears to him to be reasonable.