Written question WQ82564

Section 2 of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 (Children Wales Act) requires Welsh Ministers to promote public awareness of the law change before it comes into force in March 2022.

The public awareness campaign for the Act was paused while all Welsh Government communications focused on the response to the Covid-19 crisis. Since September 2020, materials for the public facing campaign have been produced and we have engaged with sectors working with children and families so they are aware of the change in law, prior to the campaign launch.

The awareness-raising campaign will be a targeted multi-media campaign which will inform the public about the change in the law and sign-post to our positive parenting campaign Parenting. Give it Time, which provides information and advice about alternatives to physical punishment.

The communications work is overseen by an expert group including Children in Wales, Barnardo’s Cymru, NSPCC, Action for Children, Save the Children and the Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ office.

The following activity has already taken place:

Stakeholder engagement and materials

• Key partners and stakeholders have engaged in virtual presentations about the Act; 65 separate presentations were delivered between October 2020 and April 2021 reaching 85 different organisations and more than 730 individuals.

• Between September 2020 and March 2021 engagement with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and specific audiences centred on grassroots organisations, with engagement with 156 community organisation representatives.

• A range of high-level awareness-raising information sheets have been produced for specific audiences, such as health, education, social services, childcare and legal sectors.

• A briefing produced with the Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Board has been distributed to all Safeguarding Boards in Wales.

• A range of materials for stakeholders have been developed including a video, briefing note and FAQs, which are available on the Welsh Government website.

The public campaign will launch later this year and will include PR, TV, radio, out-of-home, digital and press advertising.

A total of £600,380 (excluding VAT) will have been spent on the awareness raising campaign between April 1 2020 and 31 May 2021.