Perhaps social care has its very own Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen in the form of care services minister Liam Byrne.

Responding to a question at last week's conference, Byrne told delegates that social care's "intellectual furniture" would need to be assembled over the next 18 months to support a spending review submission to the Treasury.

Presumably, the positioning of the workforce table, individualised-budget chairs and telecare plasma screen will be guided by the principles of Feng Shui.