Employer Skills Survey 2022

Employer Skills Survey 2022

Privacy Notice for the UK Employer Skills Survey 2022

Who we are
This work is being carried out by the Skills Policy Analysis team which is a part of the Department for Education (DfE). For the purpose of data protection legislation, the DfE is the data controller for the personal data processed as part of the survey.

Roles
For the purposes of this work, under the definitions of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the role of each involved part is as follows:

The Data Controller: The Department for Education (DfE)
Data Processor: IFF Research, Ipsos (previously Ipsos Mori, now known as the UK arm of the global Ipsos group), BMG Research (contracted partners)
Data Subjects: Employers across the UK

How we will use your information
The project will collect the name and email address of the identified person within the establishment who is deemed best placed to respond to the survey. Collecting the name allows us to efficiently administer follow-up on appointments, and the email address will allow us to send information directly to the respondent in the context of the study. Names and email addresses collected will not be stored in the same database as the responses to the survey.

Your employer may have shared your work-related contact details (work email address and telephone number) with IFF Research under the terms set out in a Data Sharing Notice, in order for IFF Research to issue you, via email, with a link to share the best number to contact you on for completing the survey over telephone.

IFF will receive your personal data from your survey return and will process and securely store the data that you provide during this research on behalf of DfE. Your survey responses will be kept entirely confidential, in line with the Code of Conduct of the Market Research Society and UK GDPR. The survey findings will be anonymised before being sent by IFF to DfE. It will only be possible for DfE to identify any organisation if you consent to data linking taking place.

The data you provide during your participation in the research will help DfE to gather information on the skills challenges that employers face within their existing workforces and in terms of bringing in new skilled labour, the levels and nature of training investment and the relationship between skills challenges, training activity and business strategy. It also includes topics such as recruitment, provision of work placements and apprenticeships.

Participation in the research is voluntary and participants can withdraw at any point. The data collected will be stored securely, all responses to the surveys will be analysed pseudonymously (no names will be attached) and individuals or organisations will not be identified in any reporting. Any personal contact details will only be shared with the data controller, DfE, if you consent to being re-contacted for further research.

For more information about IFF Research and its Surveys, follow this link: http://www.iffresearch.com/iff-research-gdpr-policy/.

If you have any questions about the practices of this work, please contact the IFF Research team by email at: SkillsSurvey2022@iffresearch.com.

The nature of your personal data we will be using
IFF Research will use work related contact details (work email addresses/telephone numbers), as set out above, to issue information to you directly in the context of the study via email.

The categories of your personal data that we will be using for this project are:

your full name,
your telephone number,
email address.

Why our use of your personal data is lawful
In order for our use of your personal data to be lawful, we need to meet one (or more) conditions in the data protection legislation. For the purpose of this project, the relevant conditions are:

Article 6(1)(a) that you have given your consent

Who we will make your personal data available to
DfE sometimes needs to make personal data available to other organisations. These might include contracted partners (who we have employed to process your personal data on our behalf) and/or other organisations (with whom we need to share your personal data for specific purposes).

Where DfE need to share your personal data with others, we ensure that this data sharing complies with data protection legislation. For the purpose of this project, your data will be processed by IFF Research on behalf of the DfE.

Your personal data (i.e. name and contact details) will be shared in the following circumstances:

From BMG and Ipsos Mori to IFF Research (DfE's lead contractor) where you have consented to take part in the survey
Where you have consented to be contacted for follow-up research within the next two years, data sharing from IFF Research to DfE or its partners who are conducting any follow-up research.

All data that you provide to IFF Research during your participation in the research will undergo a process of pseudonymisation.

The UK GDPR defines pseudonymisation as the processing of personal data in such a manner that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person. Effectively, this means that the data you provide and that will be used for analysis will have your name and contact details removed as soon as possible. This will be stored separately and securely, in a different file to your survey responses, and will be destroyed 12 months after the end of fieldwork (December 2023) unless you give permission to be recontacted for further research.

When sharing data with the Department of Education and in published reports, IFF Research will ensure that, through the process of pseudonymisation, no personal identifiable data will be shared.

How long we will keep your personal data
Personal data will only be retained by IFF Research for as long as needed for the purpose(s) of this piece of work, after which point it will be securely destroyed. This will be 12 months following the completion of the survey fieldwork (December 2023), for those who do not agree to be recontacted. Survey participants who complete the survey and indicate they are willing to be recontacted will have their personal data stored securely and this will only be used for the purposes of recontacting them for related research in the following two years.

Please note that under UK GDPR Article 5(1)(b) and in compliance with the relevant data processing conditions, personal data can be kept for longer periods of time when processed purely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research, and statistical purposes.

Your data protection rights
You have the right:

to request access to this data
to amend any incorrect or inaccurate information
to restrict or object to your data being processed
to destroy this data
to move, copy or transfer your data.

If you need to contact IFF regarding any of the above, please do so via this email address: SkillsSurvey2022@iffresearch.com.

Further information about your data protection rights appears on the Information Commissioner's website at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/principles/

You have the right to raise any concerns with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) via their website at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

More information about how the DfE (the data controller) handles personal information is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/personal-information-charter

Withdrawal of consent
Where we are processing your personal data with your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent. If you change your mind, or you are unhappy with our use of your personal data, please let us know by contacting SkillsSurvey2022@iffresearch.com.

Last updated
We may need to update this privacy notice periodically, so we recommend that you revisit this information from time to time. This version was last updated on 17/06/2022.

Contact Info
If you have any questions about how your personal information will be used, please contact us at https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe and enter Employer Skills Survey 2022 as a reference. For the Data Protection Officer (DPO) please contact us via gov.uk and mark it for the attention of the 'DPO'.