Former Bradford Council boss Richard Penn has been lined up for a £300-a-day job with the Welsh Assembly.

Mr Penn, who quit his £110,000 a year job at Bradford Council after six months off with stress, has been recommended as the first-ever independent Advisor on Standards to the Assembly.

But it emerged today that opposition Assembly members are preparing to block his appointment.

Swansea-born Mr Penn, 54, returned to his native Wales after taking early retirement from Bradford Council in December 1998.

His departure from the top post followed a six-month period when he was off work with stress.

He has now been picked for the new post by the Welsh equivalent to the Speaker - Dafydd Elis-Thomas - who is the Cardiff-based Assembly's Presiding Officer.

Announcing Mr Penn's selection, he said: "The independent Advisor on Standards to the Assembly is a very important appointment. Mr Penn has had a distinguished career and will bring a wealth of experience to the Assembly."

The appointment has to be confirmed by the Assembly on Wednesday - but opposition members are unhappy.

Nick Bourne, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Welsh National Assembly, said: "I will be objecting to this appointment and suggesting it is put on hold.

"I certainly was not aware that Mr Penn had been off work for six months with stress - which is very sad - but it is something I was not aware of. I now learn that he was signed off by a doctor who said he was 'permanently incapable of discharging his duties' as chief executive at Bradford. If he was not able to do that job, is he able to do this one?

"This is potentially a very important post, and it's important we get the right candidate for it. We should put this on hold until all the circumstances have been looked at."

But Mr Penn said today he found Mr Bourne's attitude "curious and annoying".

He told the Telegraph & Argus that the circumstances in which he left his job in Bradford had been fully and openly discussed in his interview for the new post and by the standards committee which makes the appointment and is chaired by Mr Bourne's Conservative colleague David Melding.

"I find it very curious that Mr Bourne has not taken the trouble to talk to his colleagues about the circumstances of my leaving Bradford," he said.

"I regard this as very much nothing to do with my ability to do this job, which is very much a part-time post. It appears that someone is making political capital out of this.

"People assume that because you've left a post on the grounds of ill health that you're locked in a cupboard for ever and a day but it doesn't mean that. Clearly, 18 months on, my situation is very different. I was delighted to get this job because it meant I was making a contribution to the new institutions in the country of my birth."

Bradford Council leader Councillor Ian Greenwood said today the first he knew of the controversy was when he was contacted by the T&A.

He said he could not comment but he confirmed he had not been asked for a reference.

"Nobody has asked me to make a comment about the suitability or otherwise of Richard Penn for this job," said Coun Greenwood.

If he gets the job, Mr Penn would get a £3,000 annual retainer and be paid £300 a day for two or three days' work a month.

Mr Penn was born and brought up in South Wales and attended University College, Cardiff, moving on to a 27 year career in local government. He lives in Penarth with his wife Jill, a former chairman of Airedale NHS Trust.

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