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Privacy notice for the public sector bodies board members diversity survey.

First published:
2 May 2023
Last updated:

Introduction

In June 2022, the Welsh Government launched and published its Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan. One of the goals of the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan is to ensure that public sector senior leadership is representative and inclusive, as are all boards of public services and third sector organisations we fund. One action to achieve this is for the Welsh Government’s Equality, Race and Disability Evidence Units to scope and pilot a data collection of the equality characteristics of board members for Public Sector Bodies regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and for Welsh Government.

As part of this research the Equality, Race and Disability Evidence Units will be gathering information from your organisation’s board members about their personal characteristics. We have asked our contact in your organisation to invite you to take part in a survey in your capacity as a member of your organisations Leadership Board. This is the first part of a series of research projects that aim to understand Public Sector Body and Welsh Government workforce diversity over the next few years.

The Welsh Government is the data controller for the research. We will not share individual board member responses with others in Welsh Government unless you ask us to.

The information collected during the project will be used to assess the diversity of Public Sector Body and Welsh Government Board members in Wales. This will be published in a report on the Welsh Government website. The report will not contain any data that will identify you.

Your participation in this research is voluntary. However your participation is important in order to help inform Welsh Government policies.

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 been sent this survey as a web link from a representative from your organisation, we do not have your contact details. We will not share your survey response with the individual or organisation who sent you the survey link.

As part of this research we will be collecting the following personal data:

  • Age.
  • Disability.
  • Sex (registered at birth).
  • Organisation.

As well as the following special category data:

  • Ethnicity.
  • Religion.
  • Gender Identity.
  • Sexual Identity.

Your participation is voluntary and if you do not wish to take part or be sent reminders then please reply to the representative who initially emailed you. You do not have to provide all the information requested and all questions will have a ‘prefer not to say’ option.

What is the lawful basis for using your data?

The lawful basis for processing information in this research 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’ (see list in section above) and the lawful basis for processing this information is that it is for statistical or research purposes.

Research such as this is important for the Welsh Government to collect information and actionable evidence about its ability to deliver government priorities. The information collected in this research will be used to understand diversity in leadership positions within Public Sector Bodies and the Welsh Government and monitor this over time.

How secure is your personal data?

Personal data provided to Welsh Government is held on secure servers, and for this project a folder has been created that has access restricted only to the immediate research team. The data you provide will be stored in this restricted folder.

When conducting surveys, the Welsh Government uses a survey software programme called Smart Survey. We have ensured that Smart Survey is UK GDPR compliant and meets our expectations in terms of the security of any data collected via the software.

The Equality, Race and Disability Evidence Units will use the survey data 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?

Individual survey responses will be deleted by the Welsh Government’s Equality, Race and Disability Evidence Units within two years of the publication of the report. Survey responses will only be used for research analysis.

Individual rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this research, 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)
  • 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.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: Samantha Collins

E-mail address: Samantha.Collins1@gov.wales

Telephone number: 03000257371

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

Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales