Simon Foxell, a candidate for RIBA president, has said that if he is elected, the institute would run training courses for local planning officers.
Foxell said that under his leadership, the RIBA would educate local authorities' planning teams about the importance of design quality.

He said: "I'd like to see RIBA providing training days, so that local planning officers get proper design training."

Foxell, who has been at RIBA since 1996, also advocates setting up a Charter system to use as a benchmark of quality for architects.

Tested areas could include sustainability, employee relations and ethical behaviour.

Other presidential candidates include Richard Saxon of Building Design Partnership and Jack Pringle of Pringle Brandon, retired architect Brian Godfreys, and Chris Roche of 11.04 Architects. The deadline for nominations is 30 April.

The president-elect will shadow current president George Ferguson until September 2005.