Our Values, Policies & Ethics

Values

We are guided by the principles of a ‘society 5.0’  – problem-solving and value creation, diversity, decentralisation, wellbeing, and sustainability – and our set of values: listening and creativity; collaboration; inclusivity, flexibility and nimbleness; being campaign and cause-led, enjoying our work and lives; a commitment to quality and learning; conservation and democratisation; being multi-disciplinary and open to new ideas. With the help of the brilliant Soofiya in 2022, we have located ourselves in three primary values and possibilities: creativity, progressive and fusion.

Research ethics

 We ensure our research and consultancy activity complies with the MRS Code of Conduct.

Our overarching principles and ethics are:

  • Transparency: We will inform people about the purpose and use of the research with named leads for who to contact about the research.
  • Data protection: We will inform people about how their information and data will be collected and used, for what purpose, how it will be stored/process, how long it will be held for. We will inform people about their data subject rights who they should contact if they want to exercise those rights.
  • Confidentiality: We will collect research information and data anonymously as far as possible and let people know when that isn’t possible or when they might be identified
  • Voluntary participation and consent: We will let people know that there is no obligation to take part in our research and consultation activity, and that they don’t have to answer any of the questions. We will seek parental consent for research that involves children under 16.
  • Wellbeing and preventing harm: We will plan for the wellbeing of research/evaluation participants and put measures in place to support people with specific needs (E.g. interpretation/assistance)

Equality

At Live Projects we are committed to creating an equal and inclusive environment for our freelancers, research associates, partners and the people we engage with through our research and consultancy activities.

We value diversity and respect the unique skills, abilities, and perspectives that each individual brings to our work.

We commit to promoting equality in-line with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

All freelancers, partners, mentees and research participants will be treated fairly and without discrimination or harassment based on age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation (the protected characteristics in the Equality Act and any other factors and characteristics that may be relevant for a particular research/consultancy project).

We will:

  • At the start of projects: Reflect on and consider how we will promote equality and diversity and prevent against any negative impacts, bias or discrimination for each research/consultancy project that we work on, using framework’s such Together CIC’s equality metrics
  • During projects: Review the actions we are taking to promote equality and diversity during the course of our research/consultancy projects.
  • At the end of projects: Conduct proportionate reflection/evaluation of our activity to promote equality and diversity, to explore what worked well and if there was anything we could have done differently.

Sustainability

 As a very small research practice with have two key objectives:

  • To be paperless as far as possible, avoiding the need for printing documents and when we do using recycled paper
  • To make use of public transport for travel to work and meetings as far as possible

We commit to, as far as possible:

  • Disposing of our waste using a registered waste collector
  • Observing and complying with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment WEEE regulations
  • Being accountable for our own impacts on society, the economy and the environment
  • Being transparent in those decisions and activities that impact the environment, society and the economy
  • Behaving ethically and promoting ethical behaviour throughout our supply chains
  • Respecting, considering and responding to the interests of stakeholders impacted by our activities
  • Buy only what is needed and seek more sustainable alternatives
  • Ensure that sustainability is integrated into all research activities and processes
  • Work towards continually improving our sustainability practices and outcomes

Safeguarding

Our adults and childrens safeguarding policies in full are available on request and tailored to the specific needs of our project work.

The purpose of our policies are

  • to promote the welfare of adults and children who engage in Live Projects research and consultancy services and activities, and to protect them from harm
  • to provide staff, freelancers and sub-contractors with the overarching principles and actions that guide our approach to safeguarding

Live Projects adheres to following the six key principles that underpin safeguarding work:

  • Empowerment
  • Prevention
  • Proportionality
  • Protection
  • Partnership
  • Accountability

The named responsible person for safeguarding duties for Live Projects is Chris Hayes, Director. We follow a Respond – Report – Record – Refer process.

Complaints and whistle blowing

Complaints and concerns should be directed to Live Projects Director Chris Hayes who will work collaboratively with people to understand concerns and complaints, gather and review information and evidence, and take appropriate steps to resolve the complaints and concerns.

On project work we will let staff and sub-contractors know who the client/sponsor contact point is so they can also if they wish raise concerns and complaints.

Staff, freelancers, sub-contractors and volunteers will also be pointed to the government advice and webpages for whistleblowing, where they can follow steps to blow the whistle to a prescribed person or body rather than Live Projects, or contact the whistleblowing charity Protect for guidance. https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing/who-to-tell-what-to-expect

Data Protection

We will produce an information notice and data protection plan in place bespokely for the research and consultancy projects we work in. Our overarching privacy policy is set out below.

We may collect the following information from you to support our research, consultation and business development activity:

  • Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name and contact details)
  • Information you give us by filling in a form on our website or by email, the phone or forms of social media, or collected in person at an event or workshop. The information you provide to us may include photographs, videos, your contact information and descriptions.
  • Information we collect about you which could be technical or practical.
  • Information we receive from other sources, such as websites, social media information and other publically accessible information about you.

 How we get the personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is for one of the following reasons and/or uses:

  • To carry out obligations to you
  • To carry out our research and consultancy obligations to you and your partners
  • To provide you with information about services we offer
  • To make suggestions and recommendations on goods and services which may be of interest to you
  • To notify you of changes to our service.
  • To improve our site and the service we deliver to you.
  • To understand the effectiveness of the information and service we provide for you.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are as follows.

  • For information and data collected for our research and consultation activity and obligations to our clients, we primarily use as the legal basis: your consent, contractual obligation, and legitimate interest.
  • For information and data collected for our business development and marketing activity, we primarily use as the legal basis: legitimate interest (assessing that our services are relevant to you and can add value to you).

How we store your personal information

Your information is securely stored on our cloud software. We keep information indefinitely until it is no longer relevant or needed for the purposes of our contractual obligations or business development activity, at which point we delete information securely using our cloud software.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

  • Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
  • Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
  • Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to object to processing – You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Please contact us at you wish to make a request.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk