Welsh smacking ban could deter English holidaymakers, committee hears

Assembly Member Janet Finch-Saunders said a lack of awareness outside of Wales of the proposed change in the law could see holidaymakers shun the country in case they are accused of assault.

The Welsh Assembly's Children, Young People and Education Committee heard evidence about plans to remove the common law defence of reasonable chastisement which is currently available to parental figures if accused of assault or battery against a child.

But Aberconwy AM Ms Finch-Saunders said parents from outside Wales could find themselves accidentally breaking the law if they were not made aware of the changes.

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She said: "I have concerns about raising awareness. I don't want people to be thinking, 'I'm not going to Wales as I'm unclear about the law and I can't reasonably parent my children'.

"We don't want reports of people coming on holiday to Llandudno and suddenly getting a knock on the door of their hotel where somebody has accused them of smacking their child and they're completely oblivious to this."

Julie Morgan AM, the minister in charge of the Children (Wales) Bill, said the Welsh Government would "do what we can" to raise awareness across the UK if the law was changed, but said as Scotland had already begun the process of bringing in its own smacking ban, it would be English parents who would be most unaware of the changes.

Ms Morgan said: "At the same time, there is a parallel process taking place in Scotland.

"So in fact it may be that in 12 months' time, it will be England that won't have that law in place."

The committee also heard evidence from James Gillies, from the Be Reasonable campaign - backed by the Christian Institute and the Family Education Trust - which argues the legislation would criminalise parents.

Mr Gillies said the defence of reasonable chastisement had only been used in the UK three times in the last nine years, with all cases taking place in England, and said data provided by the Police Liaison Unit (PLU) "inferred" there would be an extra 1,300 investigations into parents smacking their children in the first five years of the law change.

He said: "How many parents are we going to see criminalised?

"How many will have police cautions which would appear on DBS checks and affect, potentially, their employment?"

Sally Gobbett, a mother with a background in natural science, also told the committee the government's own consultation document acknowledged there was no evidence to show that "light, infrequent discipline" was linked to harmful outcomes to children.