A damning report has found evidence of racism at Brighton and Hove City Council.

The council’s website contains many fine words on its commitment to equality of opportunity and social justice.

But the stark facts set out by the external assessors paint a very different, and deeply concerning, picture.

It is unacceptable that Irish staff should have their accents mocked, that people should be rejected for possible jobs because they have foreign names and that the career aspirations of Bangladeshi workers should be systematically overlooked.

It is the kind of dismal behaviour we hoped had been left behind along with other outdated and unwanted relics of previous decades.

No doubt the council will argue that its commitment to equality is demonstrated by the commissioning of this report but that is laughable.

It should not take the work of outside consultants to tell the bosses at the council what everybody who works for them seems fully aware of – if you are a member of the black and ethnic minority communities you may get a raw deal in the public sector.

Now that is has been made fully apparent to our council officers, they should waste no time in fixing this intolerable situation. No more fancy talk. Let’s see action.