the irrationality of the decision. Accountability The board of the Financial Ombudsman Service is appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority – and the appointment of the chairman is approved by HM Treasury. The board's role includes guarding the independence of the ombudsman – from undue influence by the financial services industry and trade bodies, regulators, consumer groups and government. Board members are non-executive – they have no involvement in individual complaints. The ombudsman can be asked to appear before the Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee who can be contacted by the consumer's MP. In November 2011 the Financial Ombudsman Service became covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The ombudsman's website has a page of information on this subject Consumer satisfaction surveys – and surveys of businesses covered by the ombudsman – are conducted by the Financial Ombudsman Service on an ongoing basis. The results are published annually in the ombudsman's annual review. Customers of the Financial Ombudsman Service – both consumers and businesses – can seek redress from the Independent Assessor if they are unhappy with the level of service they have received. The Independent Assessor is appointed by the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service. The current holder of the post is Gillian Guy, previously Chief Executive of Citizens Advice for England and Wales, whose appointment was announced by the Financial Ombudsman Service on 26 August 2020 to take effect from October 2020. The Independent Assessor reports formally to the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service – which publishes a report in full each year as part of the Financial Ombudsman Service's annual review. Triennial reviews The non-executive board of the Financial Ombudsman Service commissions three-yearly external reviews of the service. Chief ombudsmen Walter Merricks, 2000–2009 Natalie Ceeney, 2010–2013 Caroline Wayman, 2014–2021 Nausicaa Delfas (interim), 2021–2022 Abby Thomas, 2022 to present Criticism Employees have left overwhelmingly negative reviews on Glassdoor (with an average rating of 1.9 out of 5), blaming a decline in quality on recent (2016–2019) changes in the way the organisation is structured. Timeliness – In the years since the ombudsman service was created, some consumers, businesses and commentators have suggested that the ombudsman takes too long to look at some complaints. In previous years, the ombudsman has seen complaints about some topical financial matters take longer to resolve than others (notably, mortgage endowments and payment protection insurance (PPI) due to the sheer volume of complaints