The Welsh Government has commissioned Opinion Research Services and Wavehill to undertake a survey of the Economic Resilience Fund (ERF) grant and the Covid 19 Wales Business Loan Scheme (CWBLS) recipients. The survey is to assist the assessment of the impact of the funding on those businesses supported and to assess the extent to which the core aim of the ERF, to improve business survivability, protect jobs and support business development, has been met, and how far any impacts are as a result of the grants and/or loans received. In addition, this survey will seek to examine whether wider, unanticipated impacts are identified. As part of this evaluation Opinion Research Services(ORS) and Wavehill will be gathering information through an online and telephone survey.
The Welsh Government is the data controller for the research. However, Opinion Research Services and Wavehill will delete any personal data provided through the survey, and anonymise the raw data, before it is shared with the Welsh Government.
The anonymised dataset will also be shared with the Development Bank of Wales who administered the CWBLS loan and will be sent to Cardiff University, part of Economic Intelligence Wales , to analyse the anonymised survey results and produce a report.
The information collected during the project will be included in a report published on the Economic Intelligence Wales website.
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 Opinion Research Services is Kester Holmes
E-mail address: ERF@ors.org.uk
Telephone number: 0800 107 7890
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’.
The Welsh Government will release the data given on point of application to the ERF grant to ORS and Wavehill in order for them to contact you and where appropriate pre-populate the questionnaire. The use of details for research purposes was set out in the privacy notice for the grant. Welsh Government holds the following personal data that will be transferred to ORS and Wavehill:
- Business owner’s name
- Contact details (pone and email)
- Gender
- Ethnicity
In addition the Welsh Government will also provide ORS and Wavehill with the amount of money applied for through the grant / loan and the amount of money awarded through the grant / loan.
The Development Bank of Wales has sent an updated Privacy Notice to CWBLS recipients enquiring whether they would prefer to opt out of the survey work being conducted. All data relating to businesses that did not opt out will be securely transferred to ORS and Wavehill. The Development Bank of Wales holds the following personal data that will be transferred to ORS and Wavehill in order for them to contact you and where appropriate pre-populate the questionnaire:
- Business owner’s name
- Contact details (pone and email).
For all contacts that have been provided ORS and Wavehill will contact you to take part in a survey, either by phone or online. Your participation is voluntary, if you do not wish to take part or be sent reminders then please reply to the invitation email and your details will be removed. Opinion Research Services and Wavehill will only use email address and telephone number for the purposes of this research
Where it has not already been provided to ORS and Wavehill, the survey will collect the following personal data:
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Disability
- Age
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.
When a survey is carried out over the phone the operator will enter the responses you provide and we wish to record the conversation for operational reasons. We will make this clear to you before the survey begins, and you will have the opportunity to tell us if you are not happy for the discussion to be recorded. If survey are recorded, personal data will be removed during the process of transcribing. Recordings will be deleted 3 months after the survey date.
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. Some of the data we are collecting are called ‘special category data’ (in this case your ethnicity and disability status) and the lawful basis for processing this information is that it is for statistical or research purposes.
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:
- To plan future business support provision
- To understand the impact of the funding on businesses in Wales
- To ensure processes of any possible future rounds of loans or funding utilises the feedback of past participants.
How secure is your personal data?
Personal information provided to ORS and Wavehill is always stored on a secure server. The data can only be accessed by a limited number of researchers working on this project. ORS and Wavehill will only use this data for research purposes. ORS and Wavehill both hold cyber essentials certification.
Wavehill and ORS has procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, ORS and 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. Your business will not be identified in this anonymised data set. ORS and Wavehill will analyse the information gathered to produce headlines results and anonymised data. This anonymised dataset will then be securely transferred to Welsh Government, Development Bank for Wales and Cardiff University (part of Economic Intelligence Wales) who will analyse the results and produce a report that will be published on the Economic intelligence Wales website. This report will not include any information that could be used to identify individual participants.
How long do we keep your personal data?
ORS and Wavehill will hold personal data during the contract period March 2021 – September 2022), and any personal data will be deleted by ORS and Wavehill three months after 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 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 UK General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:
Name: Cerris Dearsley-Hopkins
E-mail address: cerris.dearsley-hopkins@gov.wales
Telephone number: 03000 615864
The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:
Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ, Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales.