'Seems a bit like overkill' was my immediate reaction to the revelation Rotorua Lakes Council has hired a private investigator to review its security procedures. That's before I even took into account the $18,400 (including GST) it's estimated it will cost to pay Private Investigations Ltd for its services.
Every organisation, whether public or private, should have processes in place to safeguard its confidential information as best it can. No one could argue with that. And it's not surprising the council wants to avoid a repeat of the recent leak. Not only did the leak potentially compromise a joint project with another party, the fall-out from it has seen accusations fly, suspicions cast and at times fiery debate that has surely distracted councillors from their core task of running the district.
The question is whether it should take an $18K external security expert to achieve that.
There are many qualified, capable and smart people working in senior management across the council. It seems strange that between them they are not able to carry out a review of processes as part of their corporate responsibilities.
No one is doubting Private Investigations Ltd has specialist expertise the council does not have or that it will do a thorough and valuable job. But whether that justifies the cost to ratepayers could be a matter for debate.
