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SARs Partial Outsourcing & STAIRs Capacity Creation

ASTER GROUP LIMITED

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

07 Oct 2026 at 18:02

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Aster Group Limited procured a partial outsourcing service for processing Subject Access Requests (SARs), to add information governance capacity ahead of the STAIRs regime under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. The supplier provides AI- and OCR-enabled deduplication and redaction of 100GB of material, alongside 540 hours of structured human review and explanations of exemptions applied. Aster retains responsibility for customer engagement, decisions and disclosure. The service is intended to support Aster while it gathers benchmarking data and considers a future competitive procurement. Delivery covers locations across England, from the North East and North West through the Midlands and East, London and the South, including the South West.

The procurement is complete and was awarded to Data Protection People Limited. Aster used a direct award below the competition threshold, without competition. The process had one lot. The award is active, and the contract was signed on 7 July 2026, with a contract period from 7 July 2026 to 6 July 2027. The contract is valued at £38,544 excluding VAT (£46,252.80 including VAT). The stated service requirement includes processing 100GB of material and 540 hours of human review. The procurement description says the capacity-based service is intended to run until 31 March 2027, while the contract period recorded runs to 6 July 2027. No separate evaluation criteria are recorded for this direct award.

For data protection and information governance providers, this award demonstrates demand from Aster Group for additional SAR-processing capacity in the social housing context. A credible competitor would need to combine secure, high-volume document processing with AI/OCR-enabled deduplication and redaction, and provide skilled human reviewers who can assess records systematically and explain the exemptions applied. The service boundary matters: Aster retained customer engagement, decision-making and disclosure, so a provider must be able to deliver reliable processing and review while leaving those responsibilities with the housing group. The awarded work is bounded in scale, combining a defined data-processing volume with a substantial block of review hours. Providers able to supply flexible capacity and support benchmarking would be well placed to meet a similar requirement from this buyer.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

SARs Partial Outsourcing & STAIRs Capacity Creation

Notice Description

Partial outsourcing of Subject Access Request (SAR) processing to provide additional Information Governance capacity ahead of the STAIRs regime under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. The supplier will provide AI/OCR-enabled deduplication and redaction (100GB processing) and structured human review (540 hours), with explanations of exemptions applied. Aster keeps customer engagement, decision-making and disclosure. This is a capacity-based service intended to run until 31 March 2027, while Aster gathers benchmarking data and considers a future competitive procurement.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-078339
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094964-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - without competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72300000 - Data services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£38,544 Under £100K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
7 Oct 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
7 Jul 2026 - 6 Jul 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
ASTER GROUP LIMITED
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
DEVIZES
Postcode
SN10 2AZ
Postcode Area
Swindon
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK72 Wiltshire
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Wiltshire
Electoral Ward
Urchfont & Bishops Cannings
Westminster Constituency
Melksham and Devizes

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Data Protection People

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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