Privacy Notice

Valleys Regional Park Guardian Scheme Insight Research  

OB3 Research, in collaboration with BRO Partnership, the Wellbeing Planner, Carys Evans and Louisa Addiscott, has been commissioned by Bridgend County Borough Council, as host authority for the Valleys Regional Park, to undertake the Guardian Scheme Insight Research.

The aim of the research is to establish how to get more people involved in green-nature based activities. The research will capture the views of communities across two Health Board footprints (covering the six local authority areas of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Bridgend, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent) to ascertain how the Guardian scheme, or other partners, could attract and engage increased numbers of new participants and referrals agents. Two key questions for the insight research will be to understand what would engage individuals from those communities to get involved in nature-based projects and how referrals to these projects from other organisations could be increased.

As part of this research, OB3 Research will be gathering information through:

  • semi-structured interviews with individuals from organisations who operate across the six local authority areas who either (i) deliver green-based group activities directly to their users, (ii) refer users/clients to such activities which are delivered by others or (iii) could potentially refer users/clients to such activities 

  • semi-structured interviews and discussion groups with people who live or work within the six local authority areas

  • a questionnaire, which will be hosted as an online survey as well as made available as a paper based survey through organisations they come into contact with. 

Bridgend County Borough Council is the data controller for the research. Bridgend County Borough Council will receive a copy of the data collected by OB3. However, OB3 Research will delete any personal data provided through interviews and anonymise the raw data before it is shared with Bridgend County Borough Council.

The information collected over the course of the study will be included in a report shared with Bridgend County Borough Council and could be published on Bridgend County Borough Council’s website, Valleys Regional Park website and in other publications by OB3 Research.

Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. However, your views and experiences are important to help inform future 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.’

For organisations:

OB3 will have gained access to your contact details either from:

  • Bridgend County Borough Council in the form of email addresses and telephone numbers as you have been identified as a key stakeholder who might have an interest in this research. These contact data have been held due to ongoing contact between the programme and organisations.

  • The public domain, as OB3 Research will have identified and researched potential organisations who could contribute to the research from contact data which is already available in the public domain.

For participants:

OB3 does not expect to gain access to any participant contact data such as email addresses and telephone numbers as organisations who provide services or support to users and clients will either arrange individual interviews / focus group discussions or will disseminate the survey tool directly on behalf of our researchers.

This research does not require the collection of additional personal data from you but where online interviews take place these might be recorded which would involve capturing your image. If we need to record an interview 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 it to be recorded. If interviews are undertaken in person a Dictaphone will be used for recording. If they are undertaken virtually, Microsoft Teams will be used, and interviews will be recorded through this platform. If interviews are recorded, personal data will be removed during the process of transcribing interviews. Recordings will be deleted as soon as this process is completed. If interviews are not recorded, personal data will not be included in written notes prepared following interviews.

OB3 Research will only use email address and telephone number for the purposes of this research. Your participation is voluntary and 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.

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.

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 Bridgend County Borough Council.

Participation is completely voluntary. Research studies such as this are important in order to collect information and actionable evidence about the delivery of government priorities. The information collected in this research, for example, might be used to inform future practice.

How secure is your personal data?

Personal information provided to OB3 Research is always stored on a secure server. All recorded interviews made on Dictaphones are always stored in OB3 offices within secure, locked cabinets. Only members of the research team have access to recordings undertaken via Teams, and access to this data is subject to the same security practices as all other data held by OB3 Research. 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.

OB3 Research has procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, OB3 Research will report this to Bridgend County Borough Council 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. OB3 Research will use the information gathered to produce a report that may be published by Bridgend County Borough Council. 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 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 Bridgend County Borough Council 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 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.org.uk

Further Information

If you have any further questions about how the data provided as part of this study will be used by Bridgend County Borough Council or wish to exercise your rights using the UK General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:

Name: Yiota Haralambos

E-mail address: yiota.haralambos@bridgend.gov.uk 

Telephone number: 01656 815078

Bridgend County Borough Council’s Data Protection Officer, Charlotte Branford, can be contacted at: Charlotte.Branford@bridgend.gov.uk