NEREO National Recruitment Branding Pilot

Privacy Statement

Scotland Public Sector Retention Survey · tellusabout.org.uk

This privacy statement applies to the Scotland Public Sector Retention Survey, which is aimed at people currently working in the public sector in Scotland. It explains what information is collected, why, how it is stored, and what your rights are.

Please read this statement before completing the survey. By submitting your responses, you confirm that you have read and understood it.

01 Who we are

This survey is being conducted as part of the NEREO We Speak Louder When We Speak Together campaign, a collaborative research initiative involving Scottish local authorities working in partnership with COSLA, the Society of Personnel Directors Scotland (SPDS), and Myjobscotland.

The purpose of the pilot is to understand what keeps talented people in public sector employment in Scotland, and to develop shared employer branding principles that can help Scottish councils attract new talent while retaining the workforce they already have.

For the purposes of this privacy statement, the data controller is the lead local authority coordinating the NEREO pilot. If you have any questions about how your data is handled, please contact us at the details provided in Section 9 below.

02 What information we collect

This survey collects the following types of information:

The region of Scotland in which you work and the specific local authority area
The type of area in which you work (for example, city centre, rural, coastal, or island community)
Your length of service in the public sector
Your age group
Whether you have previously worked in the private sector
Your views on the factors that influence your decision to remain in public sector employment
Your attitudes towards your work, your employer, and the public and private sectors
Your responses to statements about personal values, identity, and career motivations
Your opinions on recruitment messaging and communication channels
Open-text reflections on your experience of working in the public sector

We do not collect your name, email address, home address, or any other information that would directly identify you. A system-generated respondent ID is assigned to each submission for data management purposes only.

03 Special category data

This survey does not intentionally collect any special category personal data as defined under UK GDPR, such as data concerning racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, health, sexual orientation, or trade union membership.

There is a possibility that respondents may voluntarily include such information in open-text responses. Where this occurs, the information will be treated with additional care and will not be used in any way that could identify the individual.

04 Why we collect this information

We collect this information in order to:

Understand the motivations, values, and attitudes of people who choose to work in the Scottish public sector
Identify the psychological and practical factors that influence public sector retention
Develop character-type profiles that can inform recruitment advertising principles for Scottish councils
Understand what messaging resonates with existing public sector workers and what they believe would attract others to the sector
Compare the perspectives of public sector workers with those of private sector workers surveyed separately
Produce evidence-based recommendations for a shared national employer brand for Scottish local government

Your responses will be analysed in aggregate alongside those of other respondents. No individual will be identifiable in any published findings, reports, or recommendations.

05 Our lawful basis for processing

We process the information collected through this survey under the following lawful bases as set out in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR):

Lawful basis	Explanation
Article 6(1)(e) – Public task	The processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, namely improving the recruitment and retention capability of Scottish local authorities.
Article 6(1)(a) – Consent (supporting basis)	By choosing to complete and submit this survey, you are providing your informed consent. Participation is entirely voluntary and you may withdraw at any point before submission by closing the survey without submitting.

If you choose not to complete the survey, this will have no impact on you whatsoever. There is no obligation to participate and no consequence to declining.

06 How we store and protect your information

Survey responses are collected via Podio, a cloud-based platform, through a webform hosted at tellusabout.org.uk. The data is stored within the NEREO project workspace, which is accessible only to authorised members of the research team.

The following safeguards are in place:

Access to the Podio workspace is restricted to named members of the NEREO research team
No directly identifiable personal data, such as names or email addresses, is collected through this survey
Data exports for analysis are stored on password-protected, encrypted devices
Open-text responses are reviewed before any publication to ensure no individual can be identified from the content
Data will not be transferred outside the United Kingdom without appropriate safeguards in place
The tellusabout.org.uk website is hosted securely and accessed via HTTPS

07 How long we keep your information

Survey response data will be retained for the duration of the NEREO pilot and for a period of up to 24 months following the conclusion of the research, to allow for longitudinal analysis and any follow-up research activity.

After this retention period, all raw survey data will be securely deleted. Anonymised, aggregated findings may be retained indefinitely for use in published reports, policy documents, and future employer branding activity.

08 Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right	What this means
Right to be informed	You have the right to know how your data is used. This privacy statement fulfils that obligation.
Right of access	You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification	You have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate data we hold about you.
Right to erasure	In certain circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete your data.
Right to restrict processing	In certain circumstances, you may ask us to limit how we use your data.
Right to object	You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

Please note that because this survey is designed to be anonymous, we may not be able to locate or isolate your specific responses once submitted. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 9.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data has been handled inappropriately. The ICO can be contacted at ico.org.uk or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.

09 Contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, or about how your data is used in connection with this survey, please contact:

Field	Detail
Project	We Speak Louder When We Speak Together
Contact name	S McCurry
Organisation	NEREO
Email	privacy@nereo.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer	Available on request. Please contact us at the email address above and we will provide the relevant DPO contact details for the lead authority.

10 Your consent

By proceeding with this survey, you confirm that:

You have read and understood this privacy statement
You understand that your participation is entirely voluntary and that you may close the survey at any point before submission without any consequence
You consent to your anonymised responses being used for the purposes described above
You understand that once submitted, your responses may not be individually retrievable due to the anonymous nature of the survey
You are 18 years of age or over

tellusabout.org.uk · Operated by NEREO Last updated July 2026

Scotland Public sector retention survey Privacy Statement