A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson said:
In response to misinformation circulating in the public domain relating to one of the council’s care providers, Apasen, the council wanted to make clear its position.
We also want to make clear our commitment to protecting the service and the dedicated frontline care workers currently under Apasen.
In January 2024 the council received several whistleblowing complaints from people who worked for Apasen. The nature of the complaints was sufficiently serious that the council appointed an independent consultant, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) to undertake an investigation (and in particular to audit Apasen’s governance processes). These matters concerned the council given the potential repercussions both financially and reputationally.
As part of its investigations, PWC informed Apasen of the complaints and its broad concerns and sought and obtained relevant information from Apasen. PWC set out its findings and conclusions in three reports.
The PWC reports are subject to legal professional privilege and cannot be disclosed. By issuing this statement and quoting from the report, the council does not waive legal professional privilege in respect of these reports, or any other privileged material or legal advice relevant to this matter.
However, to address some of the claims being made by Apasen and others outside of the court proceedings and to provide assurance and surety to the dedicated frontline workers and service users who may be misled by those claims, the council sets out a summary of PWC’s findings and conclusions from the PWC reports with quotations below, to set the record straight.
The rationale for the commissioning of these reports were as follows: [PWC Project Winter Investigation Report, dated 12 June 2024, paras. 1.3-1.4 p.3]:
-
[Para 1.3] "In January 2024, LBTH’s Section 151 officer contacted PwC for advice in relation to whistleblowing allegations that had been brought to their attention, and LBTH’s response. We were informed that a number of general concerns, in addition to the allegations, had arisen in relation to Apasen. These concerns stemmed from;
-
-
data analysis report of supplier spend, conducted by Lumensol, which highlighted significant spend since the beginning of the contract;
-
a potential historical overpayment to Apasen in 2017;
-
the whistleblowing allegations investigated in this report; and
-
escalation of concerns by a personal visit to the council group of individuals wider than the original whistle blowers."
This was further to an initial report by PWC dated May 2024, Project Autumn, that confirmed that Apasen had been overpaid by £951,000.00. Also, under the previous administration between 2017 and 2022 the contract expenditure with Apasen ballooned from £5 million to £62 million as reported to the council’s Audit Committee.
Furthermore, the council has decided not to release the content of the whistleblowing complaints due to data protection reasons and because it does not wish to deter future whistleblowers in any organisation coming forward to the council should the need arise. However, we can disclose that the audit found the following areas of significant concern:
1 Governance issues
Further investigation following the investigation of the above whistleblowing complaint by the council appointed auditor showed that:
- Apasen operates with significant weaknesses in its governance. As per the Project Winter Investigation Report, PWC found [Project Winter Report P.8 Para. 2.2]:
-
- That they “identified a number of issues with governance and controls within Apasen”
-
- “At Trustee level, there should be consideration of the makeup of the board. By recruiting trustees with either a background and/or professional experience within the sector, there will be improved independent assurance over decision making and strategic objectives.
-
- The Trustees may fail to act independently of the companies employed officers.”
- This was confirmed in the PWC Project Winter Addendum Report dated on the 15 July 2024 [P.8 Para.3.2], that substantiated the original Project Winter Report. It stated:
-
-
"…we did identify a number of significant governance and control weaknesses at Apasen, including the apparent influence and override control of the CEO over its Board of Trustees. This conclusion has been reaffirmed by our findings set out in this document."
The report also stated that [PWC Project Winter Addendum Report Para.2.5]:
-
-
"We have previously concluded that Apasen operates with significant weaknesses in its governance, based on the work we undertook in relation to the original allegations.
-
-
The circumstances and events we have considered as part of this additional work reaffirm this. In particular, the apparent influence the CEO had over the trustees in how they respond to challenges related to management conduct. This raised further doubts with regard to the effectiveness of governance generally, and in relation to how management is being held accountable."
- The current management structure also may not be suitable for the volume of work now undertaken by Apasen. This was confirmed by Project Winter Investigation Report dated the 12 June 2024 [P.8 Para. 2.4]:
-
-
"The current management structure may not be suitable for the volume of work now undertaken by Apasen due to the charities expansion in size in recent years. The current senior management structure needs to be reviewed to ensure that it has the right capacity and capability in place to manage the organisation effectively and in respect to the volumes of work now under management by Apasen."
- More worryingly, there is an increased risk of fraud and error in Apasen as there is a lack of robust internal controls. This was confirmed by Project Winter Investigation Report dated the 12 June 2024 [P.8 Para. 2.4]
-
-
"The absence of a robust internal control environment that underpins good governance within the organisation gives rise to increased risks of fraud and error."
- There is also a lack of documenting formal decisions made at the highest levels of Apasen’s structure. This was confirmed by Project Winter Investigation Report dated the 12 June 2024 [P.8 Para. 2.4], which stated that existing processes in place to document, monitor and review decision making were limited and did not clearly capture reasoning and context for strategic decisions being taken. Employee roles are not appropriately structured within the organisation. This is confirmed in the Project Winter Investigation Report, dated 12 June 2024 [P.8 Para.2.4], which stated that there is no identifiable framework that describes the current roles and responsibilities of senior managers across Apasen.
The council considers that these matters demonstrate serious governance issues and lack of experience at board level within Apasen, that would have made the awarding of further contracts or work to them irresponsible on the part of the council and seriously undermine the council’s ability to deliver against its legal Best Value duty.
2 Falsifying and backdating legal documentation
The report also found the following:
- A senior member of Apasen’s management had been pressurised into falsifying and backdating important legal documentation. As per the PWC Project Winter addendum report dated the 15 July 2024, p.5 paragraph 2.2, the PWC found:
-
-
"Evidence confirms that the Chairperson did raise concerns, in good faith, with other trustees and management concerning a request for the Chairperson to backdate a document, although the document in question cannot be located."
- Further to this, on the same page of the same report, the PWC stated:
-
-
"We confirmed with the Chairperson during the interview that the hard copy document she was asked to sign and backdate was retained by the HR Manager and was therefore not available for review. She had not been provided with a copy of the document despite asking for one at the time of raising her concerns with the CEO and HR Manager."
-
-
"Based on our discussions with the Chairperson, and the documents provided, our view is that the concerns were raised with both the CEO and HR Manager in good faith and stemmed from a genuine concern with regard to the governance and risk it posed for the organisation."
- The Chairperson, also raised an internal complaint which was not followed through. An independent investigation following a human resources dispute confirmed this allegation, while the independent investigation also found that the situation could give rise to wider concerns regarding the integrity of some other members of the Apasen management team. This was confirmed by the PWC Project Winter addendum report dated the 15th July 2024, p.7 paragraph 2.5, where the PWC found:
-
-
"The evidence available, including the report of the independent investigation into the HR Manager’s grievance, raises reasonable doubts in relation to whether management, including the CEO, have complied with the organisation’s conflicts of interest policy. In addition, the attempt to backdate a document....... could give rise to wider concerns regarding the integrity of some members of the Apasen management team."
- Following the raising of the complaint by the Chairperson of Apasen’s board a special board meeting was held to remove her from her role as the Chair of Apasen. Whilst it is unclear whether the complaint and the removal were linked, the grounds for removal of the Chairperson appear to be “tenuous” in accordance with an independent review.
- The Chairperson had requested that the anonymous email against her should be investigated, which PWC consider would have been an appropriate and fair course of action, but the trustee declined to do so. This was confirmed by the PWC Project Winter addendum report dated the 15th July 2024, p.6 paragraph 2.4.
The council considers that this matter reiterates that a toxic management culture, bereft of industry experience, is currently in operation at Apasen and – married to concerns regarding governance and sector experience outlined above – made it untenable for the council to award further contracts or work to Apasen.
3 Financial issues
PWC found that the council had made an overpayment of £951,000 which Apasen ought to have known about and did not bring to the council’s attention. Apasen disputes this overpayment.
The council considers that this highlights significant financial control weaknesses which puts public money at risk and undermines the council’s trust with Apasen.
Faced with findings of the independent audit investigation which identified significant financial, administrative and governance weaknesses as well a significant overpayment the council had to make a decision to safeguard public funds and protect the interests of its residents.
In taking its decision not to award an interim contract to Apasen, the council has sought to mitigate risk and demonstrate that it is achieving statutory Best Value in the delivery of homecare services.
The council owes a fiduciary duty to tax payers and must ensure there is confidence in its suppliers to safeguard public funds and the care of the vulnerable residents.
The decision made by Cabinet on 18 June 2025 ensures the council:
- delivers the highest standards of care and best model of continuity of service provision for vulnerable adults in Tower Hamlets
- demonstrates value for money to our wider taxpayers
- mitigates the risk of contract failure
- protects the reputation of the council.
The council’s position
The council is committed to providing high quality and sustainable care services for our residents. The outcome of the independent audit carried out by PWC significantly calls into question the future sustainability and integrity of care services delivered by Apasen. This prompted the council to take action and to safeguard the future provision of services to our residents.
The council has a policy that calls for integrity of our supply chain and the transparency of our decision making in procurement. This underpins our commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance. Continuing a relationship with Apasen would undermine the council’s own strategic priorities.
The council’s top priority remains the safety and wellbeing of all residents who rely on our services. We wish to reiterate that we are working closely with all affected providers to ensure that care continues without disruption and that transitions are handled with compassion and clarity.
Equally important is our commitment to the dedicated frontline staff who deliver home care services. We are actively exploring all available options to support continued employment for those impacted to ensure a smooth transition. We call on Apasen to co-cooperate with the council and new providers to ensure that our dedicated care staff can benefit from ongoing employment to the full extent permitted by the law.
Posted on Wednesday 3rd December 2025