53.—(1) F96[Subject to subsection (1A), as soon] as practicable after receiving a complaint, the Council shall refer the complaint to a preliminary proceedings committee for its opinion on whether there is sufficient cause to warrant further action being taken in relation to the complaint.

F97[(1A) Where a complaint is made on a ground specified in section 52(1) (g), the Council shall consider it and—

(a) if it is of the opinion that—

(i) the nature of the offence or the circumstances in which it was committed ought to disqualify the registrant from practising the designated profession concerned, and

(ii) it is in the public interest that it take action immediately under this paragraph,

the Council shall give a direction under section 66(1) to the registration board concerned to cancel the registration of the registrant, and

(b) in any other case, the Council shall comply with subsection (1) in respect of the complaint and direct the preliminary proceedings committee to deal with the complaint as if the Council had not considered it under this subsection.

(1B) Nothing in subsection (1A) shall be construed to—

(a) prejudice the generality of section 60, or

(b) F98[…]]

(2) The preliminary proceedings committee may, by written notice, do one or more of the following:

(a) require the complainant to verify, by affidavit or otherwise, anything contained in the complaint;

(b) request the complainant to supply to the committee, within a reasonable time specified in the notice, more information relating to the matter raised by the complaint;

(c) require that information requested under paragraph (b) be supplied by the complainant by means of a statutory declaration.

(3) The preliminary proceedings committee shall notify the registrant of the complaint, its nature and the name of the complainant.

(4) The registrant may supply to the preliminary proceedings committee any information that he or she believes should be considered by the committee or a committee of inquiry.

(5) If requested by the preliminary proceedings committee to supply any information relating to the complaint, the registrant shall supply the information within such reasonable time as may be specified by that committee.

F99[(5A) Subsections (1)(c) and (2) (in so far as the last-mentioned subsection relates to the production of records) of section 59 shall apply to and in relation to the preliminary proceedings committee and the chairperson of that committee as those subsections apply to and in relation to a committee of inquiry and the chairperson of the committee of inquiry and the other provisions of section 59 (including subsections (5) to (7)) shall, with all necessary modifications, be construed accordingly.]

(6) Before forming an opinion on whether there is sufficient cause to warrant further action being taken in relation to the complaint, the preliminary proceedings committee shall consider—

(a) any information supplied under this section concerning the complaint, and

(b) whether the matter is trivial or vexatious or the complaint is without substance or made in bad faith.