Select committee: Human Rights (Joint Committee)
Conclusion 39
2nd Report - Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England
Published 27 Aug 2026
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Human Rights (Joint Committee) Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
In line with recommendations made by the Children’s Commissioner for England and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, there should be a change in the law to give children equal protection from physical assault to adults. The defence of reasonable chastisement or punishment to a charge of assault on a child should be removed, bringing England in line with the rest of Great Britain. (Recommendation, Paragraph 200)
From: Human Rights (Joint Committee), 2nd Report - Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England (HC 161), 27 August 2026
Government response
No government response linked yet: deadline 27 October 2026, 5 days ago.