Evaluation of Pan Wales Rural Tourism:
Research on funded projects
The Welsh Government has commissioned OB3 Research to undertake an evaluation of four Pan Wales Rural Tourism schemes delivered under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014 - 2020. They are:
the Micro and Small Business Fund (MSBF)
the Tourism Amenity Investment Scheme (TAIS)
the Regional Tourism Engagement Fund (RTEF) and
the Tourism Product Innovation Fund (TPIF).
The aim of this evaluation is to explore how the schemes have been delivered and what impact they have had. The findings will be used to inform future tourism support in Wales.
As part of this evaluation OB3 Research will be gathering information via a web survey of funded projects, as well as interview and site visits with a sample of projects. During a site visit, the researcher may seek to gather feedback from visitors/users and they will receive a separate privacy notice if they are asked for any personal data. The researcher will discuss this with you in advance and will not seek to gain visitor/user feedback unless you give them permission to do so.
The Welsh Government is the data controller for the research. However, OB3 Research will delete any personal data provided through the survey and anonymise the raw data, before it is shared with the Welsh Government.
The information collected during the project will be used for research and statistical purposes only, to produce a research report published on the Welsh Government website and possibly in other publications by OB3 Research 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 OB3 Research is Nia Bryer.
E-mail address: nia@ob3research.co.uk
Telephone number: 07792 609821
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’.
OB3 Research have received your details from the Welsh Government – name, email address and phone number. Welsh Government hold your details because you participated in one of the Pan Wales Rural Tourism grant schemes. You supplied your details to the Welsh Government when you applied for funding through one or more of these schemes. OB3 Research will only use your email address and telephone number for the purposes of this evaluation.
Your participation is voluntary at all stages of the research and if you do not wish to take part or be sent reminders then please reply to any of the invitation emails and your details will be removed.
OB3 Research will email you a link to invite you to take part in a survey of all funded projects. The survey does not require the collection of additional personal data from you. If you choose to provide additional personal data during the survey, OB3 Research will remove this from the data shortly after the survey has closed and before the data is shared with the Welsh Government.
OB3 Research may email or call you to invite you to take part in an interview. Where you are asked to take part in an interview, you are not required to provide any additional personal data except your image if you agree to an interview being video recorded.
Interviews will normally take place via Microsoft Teams. 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. 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 during or following the interviews.
If you are invited to be interviewed, OB3 Research may also request to visit the site of the project for which you received the funding. If OB3 Research request a site visit, and you accept, a researcher from OB3 Research will visit the site of the project, at a time and date agreed in advance by you and the researcher. You will be offered a choice between an interview via Microsoft Teams, or a face-to-face interview conducted during the site visit. A site visit does not require the collection of additional personal data from you.
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:
Assess whether the programme has delivered against Welsh Government priorities.
To help shape the development of funding mechanisms post 2023.
How secure is your personal data?
Personal information provided to OB3 Research is always stored on a secure server. The data can only be accessed by a limited number of researchers working on this project. OB3 Research will only use this data for research purposes. OB3 Research has Cyber Essentials certification.
When conducting surveys, OB3 Research use a survey software programme called SNAP software. We have ensured that SNAP software is UK GDPR compliant and meets our expectations in terms of the security of any data collected via the software and all data is processed within the UK.
OB3 Research has procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, OB3 Research will report this to the Welsh Government who will notify you and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.
OB3 Research 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?
OB3 Research will hold personal data during the contract period, and any personal data not already removed from open-ended survey responses or during transcription will be deleted by OB3 Research three months after the end of the contract. This includes your contact details.
OB3 Research will provide Welsh Government with an anonymised version of the data which will not include information that could identify you.
Individual rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this evaluation, 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.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: Siân Hughes
E-mail address: sian.hughes023@gov.wales
Telephone number: 0300 025 0656
The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:
Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ, Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales.