A council worker who claimed he had a "strong desire to work as many hours as possible" had four jobs simultaneously. Bryn Howells was taken to court after it was found he was working for two local authorities and a firm that provided services on behalf of others.

He received salaries and other benefits to the total of approximately £236,000. Howells also held a fourth role with another council via an agency at the same time, earning further income. However, this employment was not included in the case against him when he was taken to court on fraud charges.

Cirencester Courthouse, sitting on behalf of Gloucester Crown Court, heard that between February 2022 and June 2023, Howells was employed as Strategic Housing and Enabling Officer at Tewkesbury Borough Council, Senior Development Surveyor at South Gloucestershire Council and Valuer and Estates Surveyor at Publica Group.The latter is a Teckal company - an in-house entity created by a public authority - to deliver services. It provides services on behalf of Cotswold District Council, West Oxfordshire District Council and Forest of Dean District Council.The court heard Howells failed to disclose his multiple employments to each organisation when taking up new roles. He submitted false timesheets, misrepresenting the hours worked for each employer, and provided inaccurate information on declaration forms regarding secondary employment.

The fraud was uncovered through a review of payroll data by Tewkesbury Borough Council's Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit (CFEU), as part of the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative (NFI). At the time the data match was identified, Howells was still employed by Tewkesbury Borough Council and Publica Group, having recently resigned from South Gloucestershire Council.

A disciplinary investigation was launched alongside a criminal investigation by the CFEU. Howells was suspended by both remaining employers and later resigned before disciplinary hearings could take place.

The hearings took place in his absence and resulted in dismissal on the grounds of gross misconduct.

'Unintentional oversight'

Howells told the court that he did not set out to deceive or act with dishonest intent. He said he was not motivated by greed or money, but a strong desire to work as many hours as possible to support local authorities when skilled staff were in short supply.

He said that any failure to declare his employment to each council was an ‘unintentional oversight’, and the hours declared on his timesheets were in his mind hours that he was ‘available’.

The councils’ barrister put to Howells that his actions were nothing short of dishonest, saying that had he declared his employment to each council, or disclosed that he planned to retain full-time employment elsewhere, he would not have been employed by them.

The barrister went on to say that he was aware of this fact and so dishonestly obtained employment, salary and other benefits.

On July 11 Howells, of Ebley, Stroud, was found guilty of committing fraud against Tewkesbury Borough Council, South Gloucestershire Council, and Publica Group Ltd.

He is due to be sentenced on August 28. The councils are looking to recover salary, pension contributions and national insurance contributions from Howells earned as a result of his dishonesty.

Tewkesbury Borough Council’s executive director of resources, Simon Dix, said: “We are deeply disappointed by Mr Howells’ actions, which fell far short of the standards expected of public servants. As soon as concerns were raised, we acted swiftly, and the matter was investigated by the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit.

“By receiving four publicly funded salaries and benefits, Mr Howells’ conduct was wholly dishonest and represents a serious breach of trust and misuse of public funds.

“Although Mr Howells is no longer employed by the council, we recognise the importance of maintaining public trust. We have a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and take matters of integrity extremely seriously. We have reviewed our internal procedures to help prevent similar incidents in the future.” (Gloucestershirelive)