Safeguards rolled out after jailing of man who worked 4 council jobs at once

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

Questions have been raised over safeguards and the time it takes some council workers to do their job after the jailing of a man who worked four different posts at multiple authorities.

Bryn Howells, 66, of Ebley near Stroud, was jailed for three years in August after being found guilty at Gloucester Crown Court in July of committing fraud against Tewkesbury Borough Council, South Gloucestershire Council, and Publica Group

Howells earned more than £230,000 while simultaneously employed as strategic housing and enabling officer at Tewkesbury, senior development surveyor at South Gloucestershire Council and valuer and estates surveyor with Publica, the council-owned firm providing services for Cotswold District Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, and Forest of Dean District Council, between February 2022 and June 2023.

He failed to disclose his multiple employments to each organisation when taking up new roles.

And he submitted false timesheets, misrepresenting the hours worked for each employer, and provided inaccurate information on declaration forms regarding secondary employment.

Through these actions, he received salaries and other benefits totalling around £236,000.

Howells also held a fourth role with another council via an agency during this period, earning further income; however, this employment was not included in the prosecution case.

The fraud was uncovered through a review of payroll data by the council’s counter fraud and enforcement Unit.

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.

Howells said the hours declared on his timesheets were, in his mind, hours that he was ‘available’.

Councillor Graham Bocking (R, Northway) raised this issue at Tewkesbury Borough Council’s meeting this week.

“This demonstrates a very serious flaw in our working from home process over a sustained period which, if unchanged, could lead to potentially significant unnecessary costs to the council,” he said.

“I appreciate the hard work and diligence of our employees and feel it is unfair on them to offer a system so open to opportunistic abuse, potentially, as in this case, to a massive degree.

“Fortunately, in this case the good work of the counter fraud and enforcement unit uncovered and dealt with the problem but with smaller scale offences they are highly probable to be missed.”

He asked in written questions what measures have been implemented to prevent it occurring again.

And he also asked: “Has there, or will there be, any review of how long jobs actually take as in this case only a fraction of the paid working from home hours were needed to deliver the workload to a level satisfactory to hold down the job for over a year?

Councillor Deborah Harwood (I, Brockworth West), lead member for staff and culture, said all jobs are assessed at the point of creation.

This is done to determine the working hours required to meet the responsibilities of the role.

“Roles are therefore established on either a full-time or part-time basis, depending on the anticipated demands,” she said.

“It is expected that service managers review roles on an ongoing basis, adjusting resourcing where necessary to reflect changes in service needs, delivery models, or individual role requirements.

“In addition to routine management oversight, several service areas have undertaken process engineering or service redesign to better understand how work is delivered and to ensure resources are aligned accordingly.

“These reviews have helped identify opportunities for efficiency, role reconfiguration and, in some cases, changes to contracted hours.

“Where there is evidence that the workload consistently requires significantly fewer hours than contracted, this should be raised through line management and HR for formal review.”

She also said a review into the fraud committed by Howells outlined 16 recommendations which have been endorsed by the leadership team in Tewkesbury.

Implementation of these recommendations is now underway and includes:

Clearer contractual language and declarations of interest, explicitly requiring disclosure and approval of any secondary employment.

Strengthened verification processes at recruitment and throughout employment, including cross-checks with external data sources to identify potential conflicts or risks.

Updated guidance for managers, with a focus on effective oversight in remote and hybrid working environments.

Revised disciplinary procedures, enabling more decisive action in cases of fraud, misrepresentation, or breach of trust.

A new manager toolkit, designed to support performance management, visibility, and accountability in hybrid settings

As a follow-up question, Cllr Bocking asked for the recommendations to be incorporated in the council’s remote working policy.

Council chiefs said they would respond to him in writing.

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk