A council has announced sweeping changes to its working practices to counter accusations of institutional racism.

A review of policies at Brighton and Hove City Council has recommended: introducing a dedicated LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) policy fficer; setting out a whistle-blowing policy for reporting discrimination; and rolling-out drama workshops on equality for middle managers.

The plans were agreed at the policy and resources committee meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday.

Last month, the council's cross-party equalities forum urged the authority to take urgent steps to improve the diversity of its workforce and broaden the experience of staff from minority groups.

The forum was set up last year following a report by the Brighton and Hove Racial Harassment Forum, which said institutional racism at the council was hindering its work in reducing racist incidents.

There was consensus at yesterday's meeting that all recommendations should be implemented, although some councillors expressed concerns that few deadlines had been set to ensure the measures were implemented.

Conservative Councillor Ann Norman said at the meeting: "I was quite surprised at some of the evidence (of discrimination) given to us and quite concerned because some of the time we don't see the situations described to us.

"The timing of these proposals is a little unclear. We don't seem to have set any particular timescales."

Councillors pushed for more scrutiny to make sure the recommendations were implemented and eventually agreed to six-monthly reviews.

Other changes agreed include the introduction of mystery shoppers, anonymous callers and visitors who will check up on council employees to ensure they treat everyone equally.

An action plan will be written on how to improve diversity among the council's workforce, particularly among ethinic minorities and the disabled and a new "equalities impact" statement will be added to all committee reports.

However, not everyone thought the new proposals would address problems of racism. Bert Williams of the city's Black History Project welcomed some of the moves but said: "They need to break down barriers and get to know their different communities and have links with them.

"If they are just going around getting a group in to do workshops, with no links between themselves and the community, I don't think it goes far enough."

Earlier this month The Argus reported that a graduate was upset that he could not apply for a research post at Brighton Museum because he was white. Brighton and Hove City Council applied part of the Race Relations Act to exclude white people from applying for the job in order to help fill quotas of ethnic minority employees.