My Lords, I, too, strongly support the amendments of my noble friend Lady Walmsley.
I will speak first to Amendment 243. For many years I was a school governor. One of my roles was that of child protection officer, for which I had to undergo training provided by the local council. These training sessions were attended by people across the borough, with responsibilities not just in schools but in community centres, Saturday schools and churches. At one such session I realised the worrying extent of superstition in these latter environments, involving children who, it was believed, were possessed by evil spirits.
The protection officers who also attended the training asked for better policies and advice to be put in place in establishments other than schools. They highlighted
the need for training to protect children from what they believed was serious physical and mental abuse, driven by traditional superstition and sometimes religious beliefs. This abuse punished children who showed strong will or who misbehaved, perhaps because of learning difficulties, or because of conditions such as autism or dyslexia, or undiagnosed conditions which parents and families might not have been aware of or familiar with.
I also support Amendment 246. It has been brought to my attention, for some years now and from people across the country, that many children have had to endure corporal punishment and beatings in part-time educational institutions if they do not remember or learn work set for them, or achieve what is expected of them. This cruelty has to stop. We must not ignore any plea to safeguard all children, no matter where they are, what communities they live in, or where they come from. I therefore wholeheartedly support these amendments and hope that the Minister will put in place measures to protect these unfortunate children who have had to endure such awful and highly illegal abuse and cruelty.