367.—(1) In the case of a dispute referred to the Controller under this Act, the Controller may at any time—

(a) where the parties to the dispute consent, or

(b) where a matter requires any prolonged examination of documents or other investigation requiring specialist knowledge which could not be made by him or her,

order the matter to be referred to an arbitrator agreed by the parties or, in the absence of such agreement, appointed by the Controller.

(2) F168[…]

(3) The arbitrator shall make his or her award within 3 months of the reference from the Controller, or within such further period of time as may be agreed with the Controller.

(4) The award made by an arbitrator in a case referred to him or her under this section shall, where the parties consent to the reference, be final and binding on the parties.

(5) An appeal from an award made by an arbitrator pursuant to a reference under this section to which the parties to the dispute did not consent shall lie to the High Court and the High Court may make such order confirming, annulling or varying the award of the arbitrator as it thinks fit.

(6) Subject to subsection (7), a decision of the High Court under this section shall be final and may not be appealed.

(7) By leave of the High Court, an appeal from a decision of the High Court under this section shall lie to the Supreme Court on a question of law.

(8) In any reference to an arbitrator under this section, the Controller on giving notice to the parties to the dispute shall have the same power toF169[request the court under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 2010 to decide on the termination of the mandate of that arbitrator] as if he or she had been a party to the arbitration.

(9) Nothing in subsection (8) shall affect the rights of the parties to the arbitration.

(10) For the avoidance of doubt, in the event of an arbitrator being removed under subsection (8), a second or subsequent arbitrator may be appointed to arbitrate the dispute in accordance with this section.