onsider your case I may invite you to meet me to discuss your case. If I do refer your case to the adoption panel, I will take its recommendation into account when I make the final decision on your suitability to adopt. Option c – Application to an independent review panel for a review If you wish to apply to the independent review panel to review the determination, your written application and your reasons for the application must be received by the administrator to the independent review panel within 40 working days from the date of this letter. You will be invited to attend the review panel’s meeting. The function of the review panel is to consider your case anew and to make a fresh recommendation to the 81 agency which will be taken into account alongside the original adoption panel’s recommendation when I make the final decision on your suitability to adopt. For information on the independent review mechanism (IRM) please see www.independentreviewmechanism.org.uk. If I have not heard from either you or the independent review panel’s administrator after the period of 40 working days has expired I will write to you confirming my decision on your suitability to adopt a child. 82 Chapter 4: Matching and proposing a placement This part of the guidance explains the duties of an adoption agency when it proposes to place a child with a selected adoptive family. If the proposed family is resident outside the British Islands, the additional guidance on intercountry adoption should also be followed. Timescales 4.1. The timescales should be adhered to during this part of the adoption process, unless the adoption agency considers that in a particular case complying with a timescale would not be in the child’s interests – the paramount consideration must always be the welfare of