The Director of Operations authorised the following temporary promotions as set out in the table. He has not authorised any temporary promotions as Deputy Director General.
Date Number of temporary promotions Reason November 2003 One New post pending permanent recruitment January 2006 Two To cover maternity leave October 2006 One New post pending permanent recruitment
There are no current plans to reinstate purposeful activity as a key performance indicator (KPI). Purposeful activity ceased to be a KPI in 2004-05 because Ministers agreed that KPIs introduced in respect of education, rehabilitation and resettlement, provide a much better demonstration of the efforts to equip prisoners to be less likely to offend on release. Purposeful activity remains an establishment key performance target and performance is regularly monitored by operational managers.
The lead investigator for the Tasker inquiry has assisted in a total of 13 investigations by the prisons and probation ombudsman which were carried out during 2005 and 2006.
Since the Tasker inquiry was established, its lead investigator has been employed to complete an investigation into one death in custody on behalf of the prisons and probation ombudsman. The investigation had been started by one of the ombudsman's investigative staff who had subsequently had to take long-term sick leave. Additionally, the lead investigator to the Tasker inquiry has been involved in follow up work to some other investigations which took place prior to the Tasker inquiry being established.
Staff who are in the direct employment of the office of the prisons and probation ombudsman do not conduct investigations on behalf of HM Prison Service. A number of self-employed investigators are retained by the office and are occasionally called upon to carry out investigations in periods when staff resources are stretched. They are free to enter into other employment when they are not doing work for the office of the prisons and probation ombudsman.