Bristol Waste Expenses: They Feasted, We Paid

Bristol Waste’s senior leadership put in expenses, adding up to thousands, for drinks and food while away, and even overnight stays. All were approved, from what the invoices show.

In a previous article I revealed how after months of chasing, a freedom of information request revealed how managing directors at Bristol Waste enjoyed some of the most expensive meals out at hotels while meeting up for board meetings.

In 2021, a payment of £640.87 was listed as “Directors accommodation & meal for meeting”, on 16 November 2021. The payments included accommodation plus dinner and drinks at three different restaurants and bars at the Bristol Hotel.

I have now sought out receipts from the previous year as well, 2019 to 2020, and asked for receipts for the managing director (Anthony Lawless between 2018 and 2022) and the finance director. What has been revealed is the same casual profligate expense claims.

The final two expenses for a person assumed to be the managing director in 2020 added up to £560.65. This was in October.

£154 was claimed for an overnight stay and breakfast at the start of October, and a £406.65 claim was handed in for food and drinks spent at the end of the month.

A habit of claiming for parking at meetings was a constant throughout the 21 months. For at least two months, over 20 claims for parking were, meaning every day that month, parking was paid for by tax payers.

In June 2019, £103.95 was claimed for food while staying in Bristol with the board. That same month, a further £60.35 was claimed for ‘meal while away’.

The following month, £97.96 was claimed for dinner while staying away.

Bristol City Council rules state that social workers cannot even claim a sandwich while working.

Anthony Lawless earned £126,586 in 2021-22, not including his pension.

These weren’t unusual expenses over the time period. For the period from December 2018 to September 2020 the following were claimed:

• 29 expenses were submitted for ‘food at a meeting’ totalling £367.78

• six expenses for ‘food while away’ totalled £721.81

• four expenses for ‘drinks for meeting’ totalled £35.75

• 14 ‘drinks while away’ summed up to £384.46

• 175 parking expenses (ranging from £0.70 to £15) were claimed for £768.60

• accommodation and breakfast was claimed for £154

• Other expenses include membership to professional bodies. This seems an ordinary expense except for the same membership being paid out twice for £255 each time.

• £52.40 was claimed for a rucksack

Does Bristol Waste still have that rucksack?

Over 21 months, £4179.45 was claimed on expenses and approved. I am waiting confirmation from Bristol Waste that all these expenses were claimed by the managing director.

In February 2024, Bristol City Council provided a £4 million bail out to Bristol Waste who were projected to lose £2m this financial year.

Managing director Tony Lawless and finance director Adam Henshaw both resigned on 18 July 2022. Before that, one or both were claiming expenses for drinks, food, overnight stays, and a rucksack.

Bristol Waste are currently under investigation for fraud, since March 2023. A Bristol Waste spokesperson said: “Back in 2020 we became aware of possible fraudulent activity within one of our depots. Immediate action was taken, and all evidence was submitted to the police. The case is currently under a live police investigation.”

The dataset is available at Kaggle and the Freedom of Information request is available from WhatDoTheyKnow.