An independent inquiry into Napier City Council's scrutiny of councillors' social media will be carried out before the election.

An independent inquiry into Napier City Council's scrutiny of councillors' social media will be carried out before the election, and culture review of the whole organisation is also being mooted. It comes after RNZ revealed council staff, including at the request of its chief executive, trawled through the Facebook posts of four so-called renegade councillors who opposed a controversial new pool, looking for code of conduct breaches. But councillors have been muzzled from talking about the inquiry, citing legal concerns. Here's our Hawke's Bay reporter, Anusha Bradley.