Man with four council jobs at once guilty of fraud

A man has been found guilty of fraud after moonlighting in four separate jobs at multiple councils, accruing a large salary from public funds.

Between February 2022 and June 2023, Bryn Howells was employed by Tewkesbury Borough Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Publica Group - a company providing services on behalf of three district councils.

He failed to disclose his existing employment when taking on new roles and submitted false timesheets, accruing a salary and benefits totalling £236,000.

He is due to be sentenced on 28 August for what one employer described as a "serious breach of trust and misuse of public funds".

Mr Howells, of Ebley in Stroud, Gloucestershire, told Gloucester Crown Court he did not set out to deceive and was not motivated by greed or money.

Instead, he described a strong desire to "work as many hours as possible" to support local authorities where skilled staff were in short supply.

He also claimed 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 he made himself "available" for work.

But the council's barrister said Mr Howells' actions were nothing short of dishonest.

Had he disclosed to each council that he planned to retain full-time employment elsewhere, he would not have been employed by them.

Mr Howells simultaneously held the roles of strategic housing and enabling officer, senior development surveyor, and valuer and estates surveyor.

He also held a fourth role with another council via an agency during this period, but this was not included in the prosecution case.

The fraud was only uncovered after a review of payroll data was undertaken by Tewkesbury Borough Council's counter-fraud team.

Simon Dix, Tewkesbury Borough Council's executive director of resources, said: "We are deeply disappointed by Mr Howells' actions, which fell far short of the standards expected of public servants.

"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.

"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."

The councils are also looking to recover salary, pension contributions, and national insurance contributions earned by Mr Howells as a result of his dishonesty.

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