---
title: "SARs Partial Outsourcing & STAIRs Capacity Creation"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078339"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078339"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078339.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078339.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "ASTER GROUP LIMITED"
published: "2026-10-07"
---

# SARs Partial Outsourcing & STAIRs Capacity Creation

Buyer: ASTER GROUP LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078339

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## Summary

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.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094964-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 7 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 7 Jul 2026 - 6 Jul 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £38,544 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | ASTER GROUP LIMITED |
| Locality | DEVIZES |
| Postcode area | Swindon |
| Postcode | SN10 2AZ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| ITL 3 | TLK72 Wiltshire |
| Local authority | Wiltshire |
| Electoral ward | Urchfont & Bishops Cannings |
| Westminster constituency | Melksham and Devizes |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Data Protection People |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 72300000 - Data services

## Release History

- 7 Oct 2026 at 18:02 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094964-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094964-2026
  7th October 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.dataprotectionpeople.com/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078339. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078339.json.