Green Infrastructure Assessment and Protected Species and Permitted Development Rights Survey: Privacy notice

The Planning Policy team in Welsh Government has commissioned the Sustainable Futures research team in Knowledge and Analytical Services, Welsh Government to undertake research into Local Planning Authorities’ implementation of

1. Green Infrastructure Assessments (GIAs) and
2. legislation regarding protected species and Permitted Development Rights (Regulation 75 of the Habitat Regulations).  

The aims of this research are

1. to assess how Local Planning Authorities have responded to Planning Policy Guidance and at what stage they are at and
2. to assess how Local Planning Authorities are implementing legislation with regard to protected species. As part of this research, the Sustainable Futures research will be gathering this information through a survey. 

The Welsh Government is the data controller for the research. The research team will remove personal data before writing up the report and will not provide personally identifiable data to others in Welsh Government unless you ask us to. 

The information collected during the project will inform a report published on the Welsh Government website.

Your Participation in this research is completely voluntary. However your views and experiences are important in order to help inform Welsh Government policies.

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 wish to undertake a survey with Local Planning Authorities to assess how Green Infrastructure Assessments are used. You will have received a link to the survey via email from the Planning Policy team in Welsh Government. Welsh Government hold your contact details as you have engaged with Welsh Government in your capacity as a Local Planning Authority.

The survey does not require you to provide any personal data. Completing the survey will not capture your email or IP address and as such the survey responses are anonymous. However, if you choose to provide additional personal data as part of the survey in the open-ended questions, this information will be redacted by the research team in Welsh Government before the data is analysed. 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.

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 from the research project.   

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 inform future policy development and further good practise guidance for Green Infrastructure Assessments. 

Welsh Government will not ask for any additional personal data as part of this research. If, however personal data is entered in the open-ended questions this information will be redacted by Welsh Government researchers before this is saved on the Welsh Government secure servers. The redacted raw survey data is only accessed by Welsh Government researchers and the Planning policy team members who are working on the project.

When conducting surveys, the Welsh Government use 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 (e.g. all data is processed within the UK) 

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. The research team 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. 

The Planning Policy Team already hold your contact details due to previous engagement with Welsh Government in your capacity as a Local Planning Authority. This data will continue to be retained for the purpose in which it was originally held. 

Any personal data submitted in the survey response will be removed prior to analysis by the Sustainable Futures research team.

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this survey, 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); 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

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: Isabella Malet-Lambert
E-mail address: Isabella.malet-lambert@gov.wales
Telephone number: 03000628250

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

Welsh Government,
Cathays Park,
Cardiff,
CF10 3NQ
Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales.