As someone who had cause to complain about the Parliamentary Ombudsman and who eventually won (it took a couple of years mind), when the system works, it works well. As ever, the weakest link in just about every public body these days is calibre of integrity and commitment, and a lack of funding and costs undermining morale and a sense of duty to what should be, something most important. The people, generally, are held in ever decreasing esteem by state institutions and service providers who otherwise should exist for no other purpose than to serve.