Fraud charges against a man who held four jobs in the council

At Gloucester Crown Court, a worker found guilty of fraud for juggling four jobs in councils throughout the West of England.

Bryn Howells has been found guilty of fraud against Tewkesbury Borough Council and South Gloucestershire Council. Publica Group is a company that provides services to the district councils of Cotswolds, West Oxfordshire, and Forest of Dean.

Howells worked as a strategic housing and enabling officers for Tewkesbury between February 2022 and the end of June 2023. He was also employed at South Gloucestershire and Publica in various capacities, including senior development surveyor, valuer, and estates surveyor.

Howells did not disclose his employment to the new organisations when he took on new roles. He misrepresented the hours he worked for each employer and gave inaccurate information in his declaration forms about secondary employment.

He received salaries and benefits of around PS236,000 as a result.

Howells held a fourth position with another council via an agency, bringing in additional income during this time, but the case against him did not include this job.

As part of the National Fraud Initiative of the Government, Tewkesbury Council’s Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit analyzed payroll data.

Howells had just resigned his position with South Gloucestershire, but was still working for Tewkesbury Publica at the time of his actions being identified.

The CFEU launched a disciplinary investigation in conjunction with a criminal investigation. Howells was suspended from his employers, and resigned prior to the disciplinary hearings. Hearings were conducted in his absence, and he was dismissed for gross misconduct.

Howells said he didn’t set out to lie or act dishonestly. He claimed he wasn’t motivated by money or greed, but rather a desire to “work the most hours possible” in order to help local authorities during a time when qualified staff was scarce.

Howells claimed that his failure to disclose his employment status to each council had been an “unintentional error”, and that the hours he declared on his timesheets reflected his “available” hours.

Howells was told by the council’s barrister that his actions were dishonest. If he had declared his employment or revealed that he intended to continue working elsewhere to each council, he wouldn’t have been hired by them.

Simon Dix, executive director of Resources at Tewkesbury Borough Council said: “We’re deeply disappointed with Mr Howells actions. They fell well below the standards that are expected of public employees. We acted quickly as soon as we were made aware of the concerns. The Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit investigated the case.

“By accepting four salaries and benefits funded by the public, Mr Howells’ conduct was totally dishonest. It represents a grave breach of trust and misused of public funds.

“Although Mr Howells has left the council, we recognize the importance of maintaining the public’s trust. We take fraud very seriously and have zero tolerance for it. “We have reviewed our procedures internally to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.”

Howells will be sentenced by the courts on 28 August. The councils want to recover his salary, pension, and national insurance contributions that he earned because of his dishonesty.

It is believed that ” polygamous work ” will be increasing as remote working allows people to have multiple jobs without their employer’s knowledge.

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