In Parliament - Karen Buck MP

Here you’ll find all the speeches I’ve made and the questions I’ve asked in Parliament as MP for Westminster North.

I do my best to speak up on the issues that really matter to our community and our country. If you ever want to know where I stand on something that matters to you, please feel free to email me at buckk@parliament.uk

Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

Commons debates

The world is astounded by the fact that we are having to rely on sea corridors and air drops for the delivery of aid when we know that the only way we will prevent starvation in the hell that is...

Property Management Companies

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Karen Buck received a response to a question they put to the government

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether (a) right to manage and (b) residential management companies requiring the assistance of Building Safety Directors...

Property Management Companies

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Karen Buck received a response to a question they put to the government

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to lay regulations setting out the responsibilities and qualifications for Building Safety Directors.

Israel and Palestine

Commons debates

The Minister himself acknowledged that the spectre of famine is stalking Gaza. I applaud his aim to restore the pre-war level of 500 or so trucks going into Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, but...

Israel-Hamas War: Diplomacy

Commons debates

With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now homeless and parts of northern Gaza rendered effectively uninhabitable, there is understandably real concern that many people will not be able to...

Clause 63 - Government policy on supported and temporary accommodation

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

Before the Minister sits down, will he deal with the issue of licences? Those of us who deal with a large number of people in homeless accommodation know that those in temporary accommodation,...

Clause 58 - Enforcement by local housing authorities: general duty

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to talk about the variation in performance between local authorities. Enforcement in some of them definitely reflects a variation in interest and concern. Does...

Clause 43 - Access to the database

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

I just want to press the Minister on this point. It is right that there is an issue about balance, but by asking the Committee to accept that the detail will be brought forward in...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

Will the Minister clarify that, if the courts found grounds to evict a tenant under this lower threshold—without certain circumstances, such as special needs, mental health, and so...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

Of course I am not suggesting that landlords should be forced. I am saying that a balance needs to be struck. As I have said several times, the Minister is completely failing to recognise that...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

I absolutely agree. The sword of Damocles is hanging over the heads of lots of people just living a fairly ordinary life. Families with special needs children are a particularly high-risk...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

I have a very large Grainger development in my constituency, and it is not an issue that has come to me at any scale. Obviously—the Minister is right—landlords are likely to want...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

If the Minister is going to propose a change to the law, it is incumbent on him to have some indication of what the implications might be; otherwise, I am not sure why the Government would make...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

I want to press the Minister on his thinking and on the motivations for widening ground 14 in respect of antisocial behaviour. I support the hon. Member for North Shropshire and my hon. Friend...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

As this point was raised with the Minister, can he share with the Committee the statistics that demonstrate the scale of that problem?

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

I absolutely agree. It is an issue for the self-employed; the very small businesses operating at the margin; the people who, because of the structure of our labour market, dip in and out of...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

I agree with my hon. Friend about all this. In fact, tragically, my office is dealing at the moment with a family where the children have been taken into care as a consequence. These things can...

Schedule 1 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

Once again, the Government are falling into the trap of creating a system that will create problems for itself, because they refuse to accept the sheer complexity of real people’s lives....

Clause 3 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

I really do hope that the Minister will concede on this point. One of the striking themes that emerged in the evidence sessions was just how little we know about what is happening in the private...

Clause 3 - Changes to grounds for possession

Renters (Reform) Bill

Karen Buck made a speech in a committee scrutinising a proposed law

indicated assent.