The consultation will feed into a report due to go before Parliament inthe autumn. But children's minister Beverley Hughes insisted there wereno plans to amend the Children Act 2004, which removed the "reasonablepunishment" defence in cases involving offences such as child crueltyand actual bodily harm, but stopped short of banning all smacking byparents.
"We have no reason to believe that the current law needs to be changed,"she said.
"However, in 2004 we made a proper commitment to examine the practicalconsequences of the changes to the legislation and this consultation isfulfilling that commitment."
Save the Children welcomed the reopening of the debate but urged theGovernment to go further. "Children are vulnerable and are treatedunequally," said the charity's UK director Colette Marshall. "They musthave the same protection from assault as adults."
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