Evaluation of the Greater London Authority’s Adult Skills Fund: Privacy Information Notice

Data protection legislation and personal data

Data protection legislation determines how, when and why any organisation can process personal data. ‘Personal data’ means any information which can identify someone. ‘Processing’ means any actions performed on personal data, including: collection, storage, alteration or deletion. These laws exist to ensure that your data are managed safely and used responsibly. They also provide you with certain rights in respect of your data and creates a responsibility on the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the research organisations it works with to provide you with certain information.

This privacy notice sets out the legal basis for processing data in relation to this research project, which is being completed by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). This includes who will have access to your personal data, how your data will be used, stored and deleted, your legal rights and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

The legal basis for processing personal data

The GLA is the data controller for this project. The legal bases under which the GLA and its contractors process personal data and ‘special category data’, such as information about your health and well-being or ethnicity are:

  • Article 6 (1)(e): It is necessary to collect data from users in order to effectively access the service and to evaluate outcomes of the service. The legal basis is public task and the legal gateway is Section 87 of the Education and Skills Act 2008. 
  • Article 6 (1)(f): It is necessary to collect data from users as the processing is necessary for the organisation’s legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s individual data that overrides those legitimate interests. 
  • Article 9(2)(g) of the GDPR, and Schedule 1, Part 2 paragraph 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018: to ensure equality of opportunity or treatment. 

This legal justification applies to this research project, which is evaluating the GLA’s Skills Fund (ASF).

Overview of the research

The study will involve:

  • Scoping interviews with GLA staff and sector representative bodies.
  • A survey of London’s ASF providers,
  • In-depth telephone interviews with London’s ASF providers, learners and wider partners (including sector representative bodies, London Councils and employers),
  • Case study research with providers delivering ASF provision in the GLA’s priority areas  (the Inclusive Talent Strategy (i.e. occupational skills provision), Essential Skills and Progression Pathways, Green Skills and ESOL provision). These will include in-depth interviews with both senior and delivery staff at provider organisations, focus groups with learners, and face-to-face observations at provider organisation sites.

What data will be used and collected for the evaluation

The GLA will share key contact details for the providers contracted to deliver ASF provision (including name, organisation, role and email address) with IES so that they can invite you to take part in an online survey. The survey will provide an insight into how provision is shaped by the GLA’s priorities and experiences of delivering the ASF. If you agree to take part in the survey, IES will receive your personal data from your survey responses.

IES will also use these contact details provided by the GLA to contact some providers to engage in qualitative research (including telephone interviews and/or case studies). Please be aware that, if contacted, you are under no obligation to take part in further research.

If you are an employer your information may be shared, with your permission, by either the GLA or the Adult Skills provider(s) you are working with. This will be accessible by a limited number of staff within IES. This means IES will have access to:

  • Information for relevant employers, including: employer name, name and role of key contact(s), contact details (email and/or telephone).

If you are a wider partner of the ASF, the GLA will share your contact details (including name, email address and/or telephone number, and organisation with IES so that they can invite you to take part in an interview. Interviews will capture insight into the successes of ASSF provision, and how ASF provision could be improved to support greater engagement and support wider strategic priorities.

If you are a learner who took part in the London Learner survey and agreed for your contact details to be shared, the GLA will share details such as: your name, email address, ethnicity and age, whether you are a learner with a learning difficulty or disability, as well as details of the course(s) you took part in (including course name, provider, and course level). This information will be used to invite you to an interview and ensure the research is capturing views from a diverse range of learners. Interviews will explore your experiences of taking part in ASF provision.

IES will visit ASF providers to understand better how provision is being delivered. If you are a learner at one of the providers visited, you may be invited by your training provider to take part in a focus group led by IES to share your views and experiences of the training. In the focus group we will not ask you for any personal data, however you may share this if you choose to if it is relevant to how you have experienced your course.

Personal data collected through any of the above methods will only be processed for the purposes of completing this research, under the direction of the GLA. Participation in any element of the research is completely voluntary – if you decide after consenting that you no longer want to take part you can decline the invitation without having to give a reason.

Who will have access to my personal data?

All personal data shared with IES for the purposes of this research will be stored on an encrypted server, with access restricted solely to members of the research team.

If you agree to take part in a research survey, interview or focus group, any information you provide will be summarised in an anonymised format – this means we will remove any information that could be used to identify you.

How will my data be treated?

If you are invited and choose to take part in a survey, interview, or focus group the information you give will only be used for purposes of this study. IES will produce a report summarising the main findings from across all the research activities. This will be shared with the GLA. It may also be published and made publicly available on the london.gov.uk and IES website. Individuals will not be named in the reports, nor will any information be included that could reveal their identity.

Data protection law requires that personal data are kept for no longer than is necessary. We will anonymise the information you provide as soon as we practically can (i.e. within 2 weeks of the interview date). The personal data we used to contact you will be securely deleted from the IES systems six months after the project is complete (currently estimated to be July 2027).

Who can I contact if I would like to withdraw my interview data?

You have rights under data protection law to make the following requests about the personal data that is held about you, which is being processed for this research, including:

  • 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

You have the right to withdraw the information you have provided as part of the interviews or focus groups up to 2 weeks after the interview date. After this point the information will have been anonymised and will no longer be treated as personal data.

If you have taken part in an interview but would like your data withdrawn, please contact: billy.campbell@employment-studies.co.uk.

Who can I contact with a query about how my data will be used?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, please contact Billy Campbell, Project Manager at IES: billy.campbell@employment-studies.co.uk.

Who can I contact with a complaint?

Further information on the rights available to you is also available from the Information Commissioner’s Office - the independent body responsible for regulating data protection within the UK. They can also deal with any complaints you may have regarding our use of your data:

  • Tel: 0303 123 1113
  • Email: casework@ico.org.uk
  • Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF