A former council worker has been jailed after being convicted of six counts of fraud as he was working for multiple councils at once earning up to £236k
Brynn Howells, 66, from Ebley, in Stroud has been jailed after being caught working three jobs for separate councils earning around £236,000.
Howells was found guilty of fraud on 11 July 2025 and was sentenced to spend three years in jail on 28 August 2025 after he was found to have been falsifying time sheets for Tewkesbury Borough Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Publica Group.
He was working multiple roles between February 2022 and June 2023 which included strategic housing and enabling officer at Tewkesbury Borough Council, senior development surveyor at South Gloucestershire Council and a valuer and estates surveyor at Publica Group.
Howells also failed to disclose to each of the employers that he had more than one job.
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The council fraudster was only found out when a counter fraud unit at one of the councils reviewed its payroll data as part of the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative (NFI). By this time Howells had resigned from Gloucestershire Council but still worked for the other two.
Howells was suspended by both of the employers before a criminal investigation took place by the council’s Counter Fraud Enforcement Unit (CFEU). He was subsequently dismissed from both positions.
In court proceedings Howells said he was not motivated by greed or money but wanted to work as many hours as possible to support the local councils as they were short staffed for people with his skill set.
He called the failure to notify each of the employers an ‘unintentional oversight’ and the false hours he submitted on his timesheet were the hours he considered himself ‘available’.
However, the barrister acting for the council described Howells’ actions as ‘dishonest’ as if he had declared each job to the employers then he would not have got the positions.
Simon Dix, executive director of resources at Tewkesbury Borough Council, said: ‘We welcome the conclusion of this case, and the sentencing handed down today. Howells’ actions represented a serious breach of trust and a misuse of public funds. His conduct fell far short of the standards expected of public servants and undermined the integrity of the organisations’ he served.
‘As soon as concerns were raised, we acted swiftly and worked closely with the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit to investigate the matter thoroughly. We are committed to recovering the public money lost through this fraud and have reviewed our internal procedures to strengthen safeguards against similar incidents.
‘We remain resolute in our zero-tolerance approach to fraud and will continue to uphold the highest standards of integrity and accountability in public service.’
Howells was convicted in July of six counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of fraud by failing to disclose information.
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