Smacking ban: What have they got to hide?

PROSECUTORS have been accused of secrecy after withholding information on the smacking ban.

Campaigners said details of a ‘debate’ between the courts and the Scottish Government were being kept under wraps.

A Freedom of Information request asked the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) for copies of correspondence with the Scottish Government concerning the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act.

The Act, which makes ‘reasonable chastisement’ a criminal offence, was passed by Holyrood last year and is set to come into force in November this year.

In its response, the COPFS admitted that there was relevant information to release, including ‘debate on correspondence from a third party’ and discussion over the ‘administration’ of the new law.

But it claimed releasing the correspondence would not be in the ‘public interest’, saying: ‘Disclosure of information is exempt where to do so would result in prejudicing the effective conduct of public affairs. Under [the Freedom of Information Scotland Act], disclosure would in this case inhibit the frank and free exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.’

It said officials had ‘taken the view that it is not in the public interest to disclose this information’.

Jamie Gillies, spokesman for Be Reasonable Scotland, an organisation which campaigned against a change in the law, said: ‘COPFS is refusing to disclose details of a debate between the courts and the Government relating to the smacking ban, and discussion about “administration” of the new law on the basis that this would not be in the public interest. That’s simply not good enough.

‘The fact that there was “debate” between the courts and the Government raises questions.

‘Who is the third party that was mentioned? And what is the focus of debate? Given the controversial nature of the smacking legislation the public will want to know.

‘The smacking ban will affect thousands of families in Scotland for years to come and there are less than six months until it is enforced. In the interests of transparency and accountability, the COPFS must come clean.’

It has emerged that thousands of police are set to be trained on how to respond to reports of parents smacking their children.

Last year, research by the Welsh Government, which is also planning a ban, found that more than 500 parents a year could face police probes over smacking.

Based on that analysis, campaigners against the move in Scotland estimate that the figure here would be closer to 1,000 families a year.

Cash-strapped Police Scotland expects the law will have a ‘significant impact’ on resources.

It raises the prospect of the law having a greater influence on family life than previously thought.

A Crown Office spokesman said it had nothing to add to its FOI response.