Evaluation of the Working Wales programme: Impact of COVID-19

The Welsh Government has commissioned Wavehill to undertake an evaluation of the Working Wales programme.

The aim of this evaluation is to assess how effectively Working Wales is being delivered to the target audiences, to provide lessons to inform future delivery and to evaluate the impact that Working Wales has had on participants in terms of employment, skills acquisition and development, and well-being. One element of the evaluation is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of the Working Wales programme.

As part of the research on the impact of COVID-19, Wavehill will be gathering information through an online survey and research interviews.

The Welsh Government is the data controller for the research. However, Wavehill will delete any personal data provided through the survey and interviews, 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 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 Endaf Griffiths.

E-mail address: endaf.griffiths@wavehill.com

Telephone number: 01545 571711

PRIVACY NOTICE

What personal data do we hold and where do we get this information?

Personal data is defined under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier’.

A link to an online survey devised by Wavehill is circulated to both management and front-line Working Wales staff by the Working Wales Programme Manager. This link is sent via email.

Reminder emails may be sent by the Working Wales Programme Manager whilst the survey is still live. At the end of the survey, participants are invited to take part in a follow up interview with Wavehill and you will be asked to provide your contact details if you are willing to take part in an interview. Wavehill will only use contact information to arrange a suitable time and date for a telephone or video interview to take place.

Wavehill have received contact details of Working Wales management staff from the Working Wales Programme Manager (name, work email address and office telephone number). Wavehill will use this contact information to invite Working Wales management staff to participate in telephone or video research interviews. All managers are being invited to take part in interviews to ensure that the views of senior staff feed into the research.

In all instances, your participation is voluntary and if you do not wish to take part or be sent reminders then please reply to the invitation email or let us know using the telephone number provided, and your details will be removed. Wavehill will only use email addresses and telephone numbers for the purposes of this evaluation.

Neither the survey not the interview requires you to provide any additional personal data, except for your image if you agree to a video interview. If you choose to provide additional personal data as part of the research we will try not to identify you from, or link your identity to, the responses you provide. 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.

Personal data is anonymised at the analysis stage. This involves the removal of personal data (name, contact details, etc.) from the data, to be replaced by an anonymous unique reference for each participant. Any qualitative data is reviewed to ensure that it does not include any personal data as part of the initial review of the data (i.e. at the same time as names, contact details, etc. is removed).

We wish to record interviews for operational reasons. We will make this clear to you before the interview begins, and you will have the opportunity to tell us if you are not happy for the discussion to be recorded as well as whether you would prefer a telephone or video interview. If interviews 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 following the interviews.

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, will be used to:

• Understand the impact of Covid-19 on the Working Wales programme

• Assess the performance and impact of the service during the pandemic

• Develop recommendations to improve delivery of Working Wales and other employability programmes

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.

Wavehill use a survey software programme called Qualtrics, which is GDPR compliant and meets Welsh Government’s expectations in terms of the security of any data collected via the software (e.g. all data is processed within the EEA).

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.

All data gathered through this research will be reported in an anonymised format. It will not contain your contact details and any identifiable information in open-ended answers will be removed. 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 hold personal data during the contract period, and any personal data not already removed will be deleted by Wavehill three months after the end of the contract. This includes your contact details. Wavehill will provide Welsh Government with an anonymised version of the data which will not include information that could identify you.

Individual rights

Under GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this [project], 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: 01625 545 745 or 0303 123 1113. Website: www.ico.gov.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 General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:

Name: Hannah Smith

E-mail address: Hannah.Smith002@gov.wales

Telephone number: 03000622308

The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:

Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ, Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales.