Parents, or those responsible for a child, may face criminal charges if they physically discipline a young person in any way. They could face a prison sentence of up to five years for offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Scotland introduced a similar ban in November 2020. In England and Northern Ireland, the practice remains legal, so long as it constitutes “reasonable punishment”.

Tim Loughton, a senior Conservative MP and former children’s minister, accused Wales of “pandering to the lobby that thinks the state knows better than the parents about how best to bring up their children”.

“I don’t support criminalising parents for smacking their children and too often in the past it has been a knee-jerk response for those who think that there is a direct link with child cruelty, which there isn’t,” he added.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The United Nations convention on the rights of the child makes it clear that children have the right to be protected from harm and from being hurt and this includes physical punishment. That right is now enshrined in Welsh law. No more grey areas.”