Education secretary 'open minded' on England smacking ban

The education secretary has said she is "open minded" to a ban on smacking children in England, but that there are no imminent plans to change the law.

It comes after fresh calls for a ban in England by Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, who suggested adopting similar measures already in place in Scotland and Wales.

Asked if she supports that proposal, Bridget Phillipson told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that the government is "considering it" but legislation would not be brought forward "any time soon".

Children's charity the NSPCC called on new legislation "as soon as possible" as there was "mounting evidence" that physically disciplining children could be "damaging".

Speaking on Sunday morning, Phillipson said she was keen to hear from Dame Rachel and other experts "on how [a ban] would work".

She added that she thought "we do need to look at how we keep children safe".

Phillipson added that the upcoming Children's Wellbeing Bill, which is expected to be introduced "by the end of the year", will address many of the issues relating to children's care and safeguarding.

Anna Edmundson, head of policy at the NSPCC, told the BBC that calls had tripled to the charity's helpline from adults concerned about the use of physical punishment on children.

In a statement she added: "That is why we want the Government to legislate as soon as possible to give children in England the same protection from assault afforded to adults and already in place for children in Scotland and Wales.”

Other charities, including Barnardo's, have also long called for an English smacking ban and two-thirds of English people polled by YouGov in March last year said physically disciplining a child is not acceptable.

In England and Northern Ireland it is legal for a carer or parent to discipline their child physically if it is a "reasonable" punishment - but the Children Act 2004 made it illegal to assault a child causing actual or grievous bodily harm.

The previous Conservative government argued parents should be trusted to discipline their children and there were "clear laws in place" to prevent violence.

The Department for Education told the BBC earlier this week that it was now "looking closely" at the law changes made in Scotland and Wales, which came into force in 2020 and 2022 respectively, to see whether more could be done in England.

Posting on X last week, Dame Rachel said a ban on any kind of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking, could stop lower level violence from escalating.

"If we are serious about keeping every child safe, it's time England takes this necessary step," she said.

"Too many children have been harmed or killed at the hands of the people who should love and care for them most."