The government this week rejected calls for a ban on parents smacking their children.

Two influential parliamentary committees backed the move in separate reports issued on Tuesday.

But Number 10 said the government would not yield to demands for a ban set out by the Commons health select committee and the joint committee on human rights.

MPs had argued that banning smacking would help to prevent the kind of abuse highlighted by the death of Victoria Climbie.

A DfES spokesman told ePolitix.com: "There are no plans to ban parents from smacking their children. We believe that parents are best placed in deciding how best to discipline their own children. The kind of punishment which results in injury is clearly not reasonable chastisement, and as such is already against the law."

Forum Response: CARE

A spokeswoman from CARE told ePolitix.com: "Children are not abused because smacking is legal but due to failures in the relationships and systems that are designed to protect them.

"Criminalising the overwhelming majority of parents who have the best interests of their children at heart is not the way to tackle child abuse. In fact, abuse can involve a failure to spend quality time with children and appropriately discipline them.

"In Sweden, it is not the criminalisation of smacking that has resulted in the reduction of child deaths but the other systems that are in place to protect children and support parents.

"Children are not small adults - society does not expect children to vote or drive and does not allow children to be drafted into the army. Children need love, security, safety and reasonable discipline if they are to grow up into happy and healthy adults.

"Approximately 80 children in England die each year from abuse - an appalling figure that has not changed for 30 years. CARE supports all steps to end child abuse and supports the decision of the Scottish executive to outlaw blows to the head and shaking. CARE also opposes the use of implements.

"CARE believes that the best interests of children should always be paramount in legislation that affects them. There's a world of difference between using reasonable physical discipline in some situations and child abuse, such as the persistent cruelty suffered by Victoria Climbie."

Forum Response: Barnardo's

Liz Garrett, head of policy for Barnardo's, said: "It is ridiculous that physical punishment is banned in schools and yet parents and carers can still hit children in the child's own home.

"The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that no form of violence towards children can be justified.

"The purpose of legal reform would not be to punish parents or increase interference in family life, but to send a clear message that no level of violence is acceptable towards children.

"There are positive ways to set boundaries and encourage good behaviour in children which do not involve physical violence."

Forum Response: General Social Care Council

The GSCC's chairman, Rodney Brooke, said: "The health select committee stresses the need to get the basics right in delivery of social care and for a clear chain of accountability for the standards of care delivered.

"The General Social Care Council, as the social care workforce regulator in England, has a clear remit to drive up standards, through our codes of practice, workforce registration and regulation of social work training. Implementation of the codes across the 1.2 million strong social care workforce will help minimise the risks of the terrible events surrounding the death of Victoria Climbie occurring again.

"The General Social Care Council's codes of practice bind everyone working in social care, wherever they work, whether as social care workers or managers, to the same standards of best practice. The codes cover some of the basic areas of good practice, such as keeping good records and the responsibilities of individual workers are mirrored in obligations on their employers to support them in delivering high quality care.

"The health select committee highlighted the need to break down the boundaries between different services. Effective joint working between different professional groups was a key conclusion of Lord Laming's report and as part of the government's response, the General Social Care Council has been asked to lead a steering group to take forward research into education and training in this area. This also involves the Police Skills and Standards Organisation, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Medical Council and the General Teaching Council, together with representatives of the Department of Health.

"Registration of the social care workforce is beginning with qualified social workers. They will undergo rigorous checks and will need to hold a recognised qualification, be fit to practice and have high standards of conduct to join the register. They will also need to commit themselves to abide by the codes, and where there is serious evidence that registered workers have breached this commitment, they could be removed from the register.

"The health select committee also recognised that the introduction of the new three year social work degree from September 2003 is another important step towards raising standards. Over 60 institutions have already been accredited by the General Social Care Council to offer this, and students in England will also benefit from a non-means-tested bursary of around £3000.

"The committee highlighted that there is a huge amount of very good practice in social work, carried out by social workers who are highly professional and devoted to their roles, most of which goes unnoticed and unrewarded. The General Social Care Council shares this analysis and will work to champion good practice in social work."

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

PAT general secretary Jean Gemmell told ePolitix.com: "The Professional Association of Teachers welcomes the long awaited appointment of minister of state for children. This appointment comes after the Laming report into the death of Victoria Climbie which highlighted the need for better co-ordinated services for children and their families.

"PAT has lobbied for a number of years for such an appointment, as we believe that children's services have been poorly co-ordinated leading to errors and confusion across the sectors. It makes sense to bring all children's services under the one department.

"However, we are concerned that the new ministerial post has been allocated such a huge portfolio, which includes: The Sure Start Unit, the Children and Young People Unit, and the Connexions Service National Unit. It remains to be seen how effective one Minister can be with so many responsibilities.

"We are also concerned by the calls on government to ban parents smacking their children. Whilst we strongly oppose any physical punishment, we do not believe that criminalising parents who do smack their children would be helpful. We believe also that such a move would be impossible to police.

"A more positive approach would be to work with parents, encourage positive correction of bad behaviour and to look at the pressures which make these parents smack and try to alleviate these."