The UK’s children’s commissioners have united to call for a complete ban on smacking, condemning the current legal framework which allows for a defence of “reasonable punishment” in England and Northern Ireland.
The current system is “outdated and morally repugnant”, they say, and should follow examples set by Wales and Scotland, where all forms of corporal punishment against children have been outlawed in recent years.
Under the Children Act 2004, the law in England and Northern Ireland currently permits parents to physically discipline their children provided it constitutes “reasonable punishment.”
The children’s commissioners argue that this framework is inadequate and morally unacceptable, advocating for legislation that aligns with the outright bans already in place in other parts of the UK.
Their call for a comprehensive smacking ban across the UK reflects a growing consensus that physical punishment has no place in modern childcare.
The murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif in 2023 led to renewed calls from campaigners for a total ban across the UK.
The girl’s father Urfan Sharif claimed in a call to police after fleeing England that he “did legally punish” his daughter and that he “beat her up too much”.
He and Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool were jailed for life in December 2024 for Sara’s murder.
Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel said: “I am haunted by the words of Sara Sharif’s abusive father that he ‘legally punished her’ until she died.
“Let this be Sara’s legacy, that all children in the United Kingdom are given the same protection as anyone else.”
The commissioners made their pleas as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was set to return to Parliament on Thursday for its second reading in the House of Lords.
A joint statement from Dame Rachel, alongside her counterparts Rocio Cifuentes for Wales, Nicola Killean for Scotland and Chris Quinn in Northern Ireland, insisted “loving, well-meaning” parents have no need to be concerned about a change in the law.
They said: “As Children’s Commissioners we are united in our view that any defence in law that permits assault for the purpose of physical punishment of children is outdated and morally repugnant.
“The experience of Scotland and Wales, where children are already offered full protection from assault and violence, does not suggest any increase in parents and carers being criminalised – no loving, well-meaning parent has anything to fear from a defence to assault being removed from the law.”
Earlier this year education minister Stephen Morgan said while the UK Government was “looking closely” at legal changes made in Wales and Scotland, it had “no plans to legislate at this stage” for England.
Mr Morgan said the Government wanted to “look at the evidence” before taking such a “significant legislative step”.
In March, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said smacking children should be consigned to the history books, adding that it puts children at risk of “really significant physical harm” and is a “Victorian” punishment.
Professor Andrew Rowland, officer for child protection at the royal college, said: “Reducing the number of cases of child abuse must begin with a clear message from society that physical punishment of children, whatever the circumstances, is unacceptable.
“It is essential that the law is changed to explicitly prohibit all physical punishment of children.”
Also backing the call, the NSPCC said “as long as the law tolerates some level of physical force against children, their wellbeing will always be a matter of judgment about what is ‘reasonable’”.
Meanwhile, national school attendance charity School-Home Support, said it is calling for the Bill to require a whole family support worker for every school, describing this as the “missing piece in the Government’s approach to absence”.
Data published in March suggested the number of pupils in England absent for long periods of time reached a record high last year.
Department for Education (DfE) data indicated that 2.3% of pupils were “severely absent”, which means they missed at least 50% of possible school sessions in 2023/24, compared with 2.0% in 2022/23.
Overall, 171,269 pupils were classed as severely absent last academic year, up from 150,256 in 2022/23.
It is the highest number recorded since the current DfE data began in 2006/07.
