The Court held that a claim to recover a statutory debt under s 15(2)(a)(i) of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 is not arbitrable, even under the Commercial Arbitration Act 2010 which omitted the express exclusion formerly in s 3(8) of the 1984 Act. The right to bring proceedings in 'any court of competent jurisdiction' under s 15(2)(a)(i) cannot be contracted out of by an arbitration agreement, which would be void to that extent under s 34 of the SOP Act. While the parties' broadly worded arbitration clause was wide enough to encompass the dispute on its terms, and should be given ambulatory effect to cover disputes that became arbitrable after contract formation, the non-arbitrability of the SOP Act claim meant the proceedings could not be stayed under s 8 of the CA Act 2010, nor under the court's inherent jurisdiction or by referral to arbitrators.
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