There is various legislations that cover home based childminding. The main legilation being the Early Years Foundation Satge framework that covers learning and development for children up to the acedemic year the child turns 5. This frame work follows on from the childrens act 1989 and more recently Every Child Matters. The frame work relates to the care and development of children. It covers 3 prime areas and 4 specific areas of learning and development. The checks that were introduced worked at making sure that under 2's were reaching goals and since this introduction it have issues reduced from 69 cases to 17.
Other legislations that affect home based childcare is the Health and Safety at Work act which states that the working environment should be safe and free from hazards and risk assesments put in place to try and reduce risk to employees or children - This is very important , but becomes more so if working with an assistant and for keeping the children safe in their environment or when out and about. The Data Protection act states that childminders and other professionals should keep personal information confidential and not to discuss issues with others. The only exception to this being if there is a child protection issues and then the correct person in to be contacted and the situation dealt with in a professional mannor. Storing information secuely is also imperative and should be kept locked away or passworkd protected if on a PC.
Due to working in your own home the Control of substances hazardous to health act is very important and all substances should be kept out of reach of children and in some cases locked away, this act also involves the the need for dealing with bodily fluids in the correct way and disposal in the appopriate form, for example when changing a nappy using gloves and a clean changing matt and then when disposing of the nappy putting it in a nappy sack and putting it in an outside bin.