A vociferous campaign group calling for parity was set up, a debate in the House of Commons secured and the government - perhaps sensing the tide of opinion - shifted from its initial sceptical stance to one where it said it would be guided by the evidence. The establishment a year ago of an independent scoping study led by children's charities was essentially the government saying "go away and prove why we should extend Staying Put to residential care".
The report produced earlier this month in response to this challenge has been worth the wait. That it was morally right to allow young people in residential care to stay in a placement if they wanted to was never in doubt; what the report has been able to do is suggest pragmatic ways in which all of the obstacles posed by ministers and other sceptics can be overcome - well, almost all.
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