It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill to the National Assembly today. This Bill has been long awaited and long campaigned for, including by myself. And, in fact, Christine Chapman, the former Assembly Member for Cynon Valley, who I believe is in the gallery today, led a debate in the Assembly Chamber in January 2002 entitled, 'Hitting People is Wrong, and Children are People Too'. So, we have a long history in this Assembly.

Its introduction today marks an important milestone in our commitment to improve and enshrine children’s rights in Wales, and in our commitment to the people of Wales to keep the promises we made on the doorstep. We promised we would bring forward legislation to remove the defence of reasonable punishment when we asked the public to vote for us in 2016. And I’m proud that we can honour that pledge today.

Before I turn to the Bill itself, I would like to pay tribute to the work of two of my immediate predecessors who have played such a fundamental role in getting us to this point today. So, I'd like to thank Huw Irranca-Davies, who introduced the Bill with the consultation exercise so enthusiastically, and, of course, Carl Sargeant.

It's fitting that we are introducing this legislation this year, the year that the international community celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The overarching aim of the Bill is to help protect children's rights.

I want to be clear from the outset what this Bill will not do—it will not create a new criminal offence. Our intention is to support parents as they raise their children and provide them with extra help and support, if they need it, while making sure that children have the same levels of protection against physical punishment in the law as adults do.

If the Bill is enacted, the defence of reasonable punishment will no longer be available within Wales to parents, or those acting in loco parentis, as a defence to a charge of common assault or battery. It will be removed under both criminal and civil law. While corporal punishment has long been banned in schools, children's homes, local authority foster care and childcare provision, adults acting in loco parentis in non-educational settings, including the home, are able to use the defence of reasonable punishment. So, this Bill removes this loophole.