Childcare and early years organisations met Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget announcement of an increase in the tax and national insurance exemption on employer-supported childcare to £55 with a chorus of approval. The 10 per cent increase from £50 was part of a package of measures which also included a rise in the proportion of costs covered by the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit, and a rise in maternity and paternity pay from £106 to £108.85 a week.