Those directors of children's services and lead members who made it to the first session of the morning after the night before (the carnival-themed conference 'disco') were well rewarded. Tom Jeffery, director general for children, young people and families and Ralph Tabberer, director general of schools, gave a convincing double act as the united front of the Department for Education and Skills.
Importantly, they acknowledged the mixed messages that have been coming out of the department in relation to the two agendas of schools standards and Every Child Matters and promised an end to the ambiguity.
"No more educational standards without Every Child Matters, no more Every Child Matters without standards," Jeffrey said.
However, neither were able to give a satisfactory answer to the question of how academies will be forced in the future to take their share of children in care. This issue looks set to rumble on for a while longer yet.