The Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020: April 2024 to March 2025

The Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act (the Act) received Royal Assent in March 2020 and, after a two-year implementation period, came into force on 21 March 2022.

The overarching objective of the legislation is to help protect children’s rights by prohibiting the use of physical punishment against children, through the removal of the defence of reasonable punishment. This means that the defence is no longer available within the territory of Wales to parents or those acting in loco parentis (acting with parental responsibility), as a defence to a charge of common assault and battery on a child in their care.

Section 3 of the Act requires Welsh Ministers to prepare, and lay before the Senedd, two reports on the effect of the Act. These must be produced as soon as practicable three and five years after the Act came into force (2025 and 2027). 

To support these reports the Welsh Government collects data from local authorities, the police, and the Crown Prosecution Service to measure the impact that the Act has on public services. This report summarises data collected for the third year following the Act coming into force, covering the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

The Out of Court Parenting Support Grant has been offered by the Welsh Government to local authorities since March 2022. The grant was created in preparation for the Act coming into force. It funds bespoke parenting support which the police can refer people to as an alternative to prosecution, in cases where the police decide it is appropriate to offer an out of court disposal. 

Local authorities record data about the number of referrals for parenting support received from the police, take up and completion rates and outcomes for individuals. Demographic data and data about requests for the intervention through the medium of Welsh are also collected. A summary of this data for the third year since the Act came into force is presented below. Some individuals have disengaged from the support before completion of the sessions, with no intention of completing in the future. This means that the number of individuals who have completed and partially completed the sessions may be less than the total number of individuals who chose to take up the offer of parenting support.

The data should be interpreted with caution given that it relates to one year only. All numbers relating to out of court parenting support are rounded to the nearest five to minimise any risk of data disclosure. Due to the numbers being rounded to the nearest five, the sum of any percentages may come to more than 100%.

This data release does not include figures relating to social services referrals, including the number of contacts to social services and the number of assessments completed by social services that relate to physical punishment of children. Work is currently being done to assess the quality of the data, so that a full data report including social services data can be published for the period April 2024 to March 2025 to inform the full 3-year post-implementation review of The Act.

A full data release, which will include data relating to referrals to social services, will be published later this autumn.

110 individuals were newly referred for out of court parenting support in this reporting year.

100 new individuals took up the offer of parenting support and 20 individuals continued to access the support from the previous reporting year.

Of these 120 individuals, 105 individuals completed the sessions fully. 15 individuals have partially completed the sessions and will continue to access the support in the following reporting year. Fewer than 5 individuals disengaged from the support in this reporting year.

95 of the individuals who completed the sessions self-reported a positive outcome in a post support questionnaire. Figures on the total number of questionnaires completed are not available.

During the third year following the Act coming into force, there were 110 new referrals for out of court parenting support across Wales by the police. 

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, 100 new individuals chose to take up the offer of parenting support. 20 individuals had partially completed the sessions in the previous year and continued to access the support between April 2024 and March 2025. Of these 120 individuals, 105 have fully completed the sessions and 15 have partially completed the sessions and will continue to access the support in the following reporting year. Fewer than 5 individuals disengaged from the support.

Of the individuals who were accessing the parenting support between April 2024 and March 2025, 82% of the individuals identified as “White” and 6% identified as “Asian, Asian Welsh or Asian British”. Fewer than 5 individuals identified in each of the groups “Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups”, “Black, Black Welsh, Black British, Caribbean or African” or “Other ethnic group”. 56% of the individuals were male and 44% were female. The percentage of disabled individuals was 5%.

10 individuals received sessions through the medium of Welsh after stating this was their preference. 10 individuals completed sessions through the medium of Welsh.

Individuals completing the parenting support are asked to complete a post support questionnaire issued by local authorities. Figures on the total number of completed questionnaires is not available. The latest data on this shows that 95 of the individuals who completed the questionnaire self-reported a positive outcome. This is defined as an improvement in the child’s behaviour, or in parental wellbeing or efficacy.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Wales are able to monitor the number of cases relating to the Act which are referred to them, as well how many of these cases are charged, and what the outcomes of these cases are.

It is not currently possible to publish figures relating to referrals to the CPS in Wales, as the number reported is fewer than five, posing a risk to personal information being disclosed.

Report authors: Dan Boon

Views expressed in this report are those of the researchers and not necessarily those of the Welsh Government.

For further information please contact:
Equality, Poverty and Children’s Evidence and Support Division
Knowledge and Analytical Services 
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: research.childrenandfamilies@gov.wales

Social research number: 88/2025
Digital ISBN: 978-1-80633-381-3