Smacking ban: Wales marks one year since new law was brought in

The ban makes all types of physical punishment illegal and gives children equal protection from violence as adults. Credit: PA Images.

It has been a year since the Welsh Government made smacking illegal, giving children and adults the same level of protection from violence.

Last year, government figures showed more than half of people who responded to a survey thought it was not necessary to smack a child.

A year on and support for the law has ramped up in England over the border, according to new data from NSPCC Cymru.

Two thirds of people (67%) living in England, who took part in the YouGov poll, said it is not acceptable to physically discipline a child.

  • What is banned under the law?

Anyone that smacks, hits, slaps or shakes a child will be breaking the law, and could be arrested or charged with assault.

At the time, The First Minister for Wales, Mark Drakeford, described the law change as a "historic achievement" for children and their rights.

Mr Drakeford said: “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that children have the right to be protected from harm and from being hurt and this includes physical punishment.

"That right is now enshrined in Welsh law. No more grey areas. No more ‘defence of reasonable punishment.’ That is all in the past. There is no place for physical punishment in a modern Wales.” 

  • Why was the law passed?

Last year, the Welsh Government cited studies suggesting physical punishment does not improve behaviour in the long term and can have negative effects on children.

In 1998, an ONS survey conducted for the Department of Health found that 88% of respondents agreed it is sometimes necessary to smack children.

In 2015, the Welsh Government asked parents with children under 6 the same question, and only 24% agreed.

First Minister Mark Drakeford described the law change as a "historic achievement" for children and their rights. Credit: PA Images.

  • What did the opposition party in Wales say when the law was passed?

Welsh Conservatives and lobbyist groups campaigned against the law change.

Last year in the Senedd, Janet Finch-Saunders MS said that “the state should not be telling people how to parent."

Darren Millar MS added: “Demonising mums and dads who use the occasional smack to discipline their children is plain wrong.

"Encouraging people to shop them to their local social services or the police could have dire consequences for families."

The government called the law change an "historic moment" but opposition parties said it was wrong to "demonise" parents. Credit: PA Images.

Tracey Holdsworth, from NSPCC Cymru, described what they described as "shifting attitudes" as "encouraging".

She added: “Findings from early 2022 show that in Wales, almost two thirds of people disagree with the physical punishment of children, and there is now also a solid majority who hold a similar view in England.

“As we now mark one year since the new law came into effect in Wales, we hope even more people will come to the conclusion that children deserve the same protection from assault as given to adults.”