Under the chairmanship of the President, Mr. A.J. Harris, BSc, CEng, MIStructE, MICE opened the debate in support of the motion ' That structural design is best carried out in professional offices ' and was followed by Mr. J.A. Derrington BSc(Eng), CEng, MIStructE, MICE who opposed it. This debate took place against the background of the note which appeared in The Structural Engineer, January 1967, pp. 3-4. At the end of the evening the two camps were equally populated and it was the Chairman's casting vote that carried the motion.