Understanding Welsh Farmer Experiences and Perspectives: Survey and follow up focus groups
- tonyjones932
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
The Welsh Government has commissioned a consortium led by Wavehill to undertake research to help improve understanding of Welsh farmers’ experiences and perspectives, and to monitor if and how these may change over time.
As part of this research, Wavehill will be gathering information through an online and telephone survey of farmers, and follow-up focus group discussions.
The Welsh Government is the data controller for the research. However, Wavehill will delete any personal information provided through the survey and focus groups, and anonymise the raw data, before it is shared with the Welsh Government.
The information collected during the project will be included in a report published on the Welsh Government website and possibly in other publications by Wavehill and the Welsh Government.
Your Participation in this research is completely voluntary. However your views and experiences are important in order to help inform Welsh Government policies.
The contact for this research at Wavehill is Declan Turner
E-mail address: declan.turner@wavehill.com
Telephone number: 07794906729
PRIVACY NOTICE
What personal data do we hold and where do we get this information?
Personal data is defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier’.
You have accessed the survey through one of the following methods:
Welsh Government has provided your contact details (name, email address, telephone number and address) to Wavehill and they have contacted you to invite you to complete the survey. The Welsh Government holds your details because:
you have taken part in the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture Survey. The privacy notice for this survey informed you that the Welsh Government could use your detail for research purposes; or
you have completed a Single Application Form (SAF) to register to receive financial support from Rural Payments Wales (RPW). The privacy notice for the SAF informed you that your details may be used for informing decisions relating to policy changes and funding including research studies conducted on behalf of the Welsh Government.
or
Wavehill do not hold your contact details. You have been provided with the link to the survey through the following methods:
The survey link has been shared with you by an association, body or organisation that you are a member of or are affiliated with. The survey data is only accessible by Wavehill and not the organisation that sent you the link.
You have accessed the survey via a link on Welsh Government social media channels or newsletters.
or
You have shared your contact details – name, email address, and phone number – at the beginning of the survey with Wavehill in order to be re-contacted to complete the survey at a time of your convenience.
Survey
The survey does not require the collection of additional personal data from you. However, as part of the survey you will have the option to register your interest in taking part in a focus group. If you are interested in taking part in a focus group, you will need to provide your name, email address, and contact telephone number to Wavehill so they can contact you. You can take part in the survey without opting in to the follow up focus group and without providing your contact details. If you choose to provide your contact details for this purpose these will be collected and saved separately to your survey responses
Your participation is voluntary and if you do not wish to take part or be sent reminders at any stage of the research then please reply to the invitation email and your details will be removed. Wavehill will only use email address and telephone number for the purposes of this research.
If you choose to provide additional personal data in your survey response, we will try not to identify you from, or link your identity to, the responses you provide.
Focus group
If you are contacted to take part in a focus group then taking part does not require the collection of additional personal data from you, except for your image if you agree to a focus group being video recorded. We may need to record focus groups for operational reasons. If this is the case, we will make this clear to you before the focus group begins, and you will have the opportunity to tell us if you are not happy for the discussion to be recorded. A focus group will only be recorded if all members of the group are happy for this to happen. If focus groups are recorded, personal data will be removed during the process of transcribing. Recordings will be deleted as soon as this process is completed. If discussions are not recorded, personal data will not be included in written notes prepared during or following the focus group.
If you raise a query or complaint and provide personal data requesting a response, the researcher will forward the request only to the relevant official and subsequently delete it from the research data.
What is the lawful basis for using your data?
The lawful basis for processing information in this data collection exercise is our public task; that is, exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh Government.
Participation is completely voluntary. Research studies such as this are important for the Welsh Government to collect information and actionable evidence about its ability to deliver government priorities. The information collected in this research, for example, might be used to inform and evaluate agricultural policy.
How secure is your personal data?
Personal information provided to Wavehill is always stored on a secure server. The data can only be accessed by a limited number of researchers working on this project. Wavehill will only use this data for research purposes. Wavehill has Cyber Essentials certification.
When conducting surveys, Wavehill use a survey software programme called Survey Sparrow. We have ensured that Survey Sparrow is UK GDPR compliant and meets our expectations in terms of the security of any data collected via the software.
Wavehill has procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, Wavehill will report this to the Welsh Government who will notify you and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.
Wavehill will use the information gathered to produce a report that will be published on the Welsh Government website. This report will not include any information that could be used to identify individual participants.
How long do we keep your personal data?
Wavehill will provide Welsh Government with an anonymised version of the data which will not include information that could identify you. Wavehill will hold personal data during the contract period, and any personal data not already removed during the anonymisation process will be deleted by Wavehill within three months of the end of the contract. This includes your contact details.
Individual rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this research project, specifically you have the right:
To access a copy of your own data;
For us to rectify inaccuracies in that data;
To object to or restrict processing (in certain circumstances);
For your data to be ‘erased’ (in certain circumstances); and
To lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection.
The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Phone: 0303 123 1113. Website: www.ico.org.uk
Further Information
If you have any further questions about how the data provided as part of this study will be used by the Welsh Government or wish to exercise your rights using the UK General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:
Name: Rural Affairs Research Team
The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:
Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ, Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales.
Int. Ref. 802-24
