Participant Information Leaflet for interviewees

Study Title:	Future Proof Apprenticeships
Investigator(s):	Peter Dickinson, Beate Baldauf (IER, University of Warwick)

Introduction

You are invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide, you need to understand why the research is being done and what it would involve for you. Please take the time to read the following information carefully. Talk to others about the study if you wish. Please ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.

A downloadable version of this document is available here: Participant Information Leaflet

Who is organising and funding the study?

The Co-operative Group.

What is the study about?

The focus of the research project is how apprenticeships might be future-proofed in the post-COVID world (in the medium to longer term). The study is focusing on apprenticeships in the two main sectors the Co-op operates in – Food Retail and Funeralcare. These sectors are likely to face important but different challenges over the next several years. The central question of the project is what needs to be done to equip both sectors with the skills for the future.

Do I have to take part?

Your participation in this interview is entirely voluntary and you can withdraw at any time without question.

What would taking part involve?

It will involve an interview with an IER researcher which should last about 45 minutes.

The interview may be recorded but only after you have given your consent to it being audio recorded. The audio recording will be held for one year after the publication of the final report and any related journal publications and then securely deleted.

Any information you provide will be kept securely in a password-protected folder at the University of Warwick for the purposes of the research.

What are the possible benefits of taking part in this study?

You will be able to contribute to the research topic and provide the perspective of your organisation. It is anticipated that the final report will be available to all participants.

What are the possible disadvantages, side effects or risks, of taking part in this study?

There are no anticipated risks to you as a research participant.

Expenses and payments

There will be no payment for taking part in the telephone interview.

Will my taking part be kept confidential?

Yes. We will follow strict ethical and legal practice and all information about you will be handled in confidence. All data you provide will be anonymised and will be stored securely in a password-protected folder at Warwick University (in reporting any identifying information removed to ensure confidentiality). All contact details and consent forms will be safely stored. Only the named researchers and a project assistant will have access to the data. No interview data will be transferred outside of the University of Warwick.

If during the course of the interview you disclose anything which may highlight harm to you or to others, the interviewers have a duty of care to report this to the relevant authorities, but otherwise, your confidentiality will be maintained throughout.

Direct quotes may be used in the report but these will not identify you in any way.

What will happen to the data collected about me?

As a publicly-funded organisation, we have to ensure that it is in the public interest when we use personally-identifiable information from people who have agreed to take part in research. This means that when you agree to take part in a research study, such as this, we will use your data in the ways needed to conduct and analyse the research study.

We will be using information from you in order to undertake this study and will act as the data controller for this study. We are committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with data protection legislation. The University of Warwick will destroy telephone contact details immediately after the end of the project. Consent information will be kept securely for 10 years after the study has finished and then destroyed securely.

Research data will be anonymised as quickly as possible after data collection. This means all direct and indirect identifiers will be removed from the research data and will be replaced with a participant number. The key to identification will be stored separately and securely to the research data to safeguard your identity. It will be possible for us to withdraw your data up to 3 weeks after the data has been collected and this data will then be securely destroyed if you wish us to do so. If no identifying information is collected, it will not be possible to withdraw information once submitted.

Data Sharing

Data will not be shared with any other organisation.

Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited, as we need to manage your information in specific ways in order for the research to be reliable and accurate. The University of Warwick has in place policies and procedures to keep your data safe.

This data may also be used for future research following review and approval by an independent Research Ethics Committee and subject to your consent at the outset of this research project.

Please refer to the University of Warwick Research Privacy Notice which is available here: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/idc/dataprotection/privacynotices/researchprivacynoticeLink opens in a new window or by contacting the Information and Data Compliance Team at GDPR at warwick dot ac dot uk.

What will happen if I don’t want to carry on being part of the study?

Participation is entirely voluntary, and a decision to withdraw participation from the study without giving a reason, will not affect you in any way. If you decide to withdraw from the study, please tell us before the interview and we will destroy your contact details securely and will not contact you again for the purposes of this research.

It will not be possible to withdraw your data which has already been collected, after it has been anonymised (3 weeks after data collection). To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally-identifiable information possible and keep the data secure in line with the University’s Information and Data Compliance policies.

What will happen to the results of the study?

The results of the study will be published in a final report. The Co-op Group is responsible for the publication of the final report but we would anticipate that all participants will be able to view a copy online.

Who has reviewed the study?

This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by the University of Warwick’s Humanities and Social Science Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC).

Who should I contact if I want further information?

If you have any questions about any aspect of the study, or your participation in it, not answered by this participant information sheet, please contact:

Peter Dickinson on p dot dickinson at warwick dot ac dot uk

Who should I contact if I wish to make a complaint?

Any complaint about the way you have been dealt with during the study or any possible harm you might have suffered will be addressed. Please address your complaint to the person below, who is a senior University of Warwick official entirely independent of this study:

Jane Prewett

Head of Research Governance

Research & Impact Services

University House

University of Warwick

Coventry

CV4 8UW

Email: researchgovernance at warwick dot ac dot uk

Tel: 024 76 522746

If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter: DPO at warwick dot ac dot uk.

If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Thank you for taking the time to read this Participant Information Leaflet