1) Why are Local Government Ombudsmen functionally incompetent?

Because most of the investigators just haven't got the skills necessary to do the job.

2) What can we do about persistently unreasonable Local Government Ombudsmen?

We don't have to do anything, they are doing it for us.

3) Why are Local Government Ombudsman always biased in favour of local authorities?

Local Authorities have the money and muscle to take the Ombudsman on, the poor old complainant hasn't. No contest.

4) Should local authority chief executive officers be able to get a job as a Local Government Ombudsman?

No, the current Ombudsmen prove the point.

5) Why are Local Government Ombudsmen unaccountable?

They couldn't function as they do if they were accountable.

6) Why are Local Government Ombudsmen not required to have recent legal experience.

Because most Chief Executive Officers don't have any.

7) Why is a Local Government Ombudsman's decision so hard to understand and so difficult for them to justify?

Because they view an investigation as a means of proving what they have already decided rather than reaching a decision after they have fully investigated.