In a letter to a committee chair on Tuesday, assembly government Deputy Social Services Minister Gwenda Thomas said the administration believed it could ban all physical punishment of children on social welfare grounds.
But she said the assembly government had agreed to redraft its request for new powers.
Ms Thomas wrote that otherwise “we will not be able to secure the necessary powers to deliver the important One Wales (Labour-Plaid coalition document) to reform and consolidate the law relating to vulnerable children in Wales, improving preventative measures and tackling child poverty”.
Under the 2004 Children’s Act, which came into force in January 2005, mild smacking is allowed.
Any punishment that causes visible bruising, grazes, scratches, minor swellings or cuts can result in legal action.
Note
Interestingly Westminster MPs are trying to get a free vote on it to try to yet again get a ban on smacking in England