A new organisation aiming to make Yorkshire the country's premier county has been launched.

Members of the new Yorkshire and Humber Assembly yesterday promised to raise the profile of the white rose county across the world and bring economic prosperity to its five million inhabitants. The body, made up of councillors, businessmen and public-sector workers aims to influence Government decision-making as well as set out a economic and employment targets for the region by lobbying in Whitehall and Brussels.

The assembly will also be able to scrutinise Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency, and its work regenerating the county.

But the assembly has attracted criticism that it could be a step down the road towards becoming another layer of local government bureaucracy. Launching the assembly in Leeds Alan Johnson MP, Minister of State for Employment, said: "This is an important step forward. The region now has one strategic body representing its interests.

"As well as acting as a voice for the region, it also has an important role scrutinising the actions of Yorkshire Forward."

Assembly chairman and Wakefield Council Leader Peter Box, said: "The new assembly is an important step in the development of regional governments in Yorkshire.

"What it is going to do is bring together people from local governments and the private and voluntary sectors and make sure they work in partnership to solve the problems we all share."

Councillor Margaret Eaton, (Cons, Bingley Rural) who is automatically a member of the assembly because of her role as leader of Bradford Council, said that she was unconvinced about the role of the new body.

Coun Eaton has previously criticised any potential creation of a regional government saying it would take decision making further away from the people in Bradford that it affects.

She said: "I think if you ask the majority of people in the streets of Bradford district how they feel about the Yorkshire Assembly they probably wouldn't know what you were talking about.

"So I think we have to be careful when making decisions and make sure that the decision making process isn't taken further away from the people who matter.

"I think the members of the assembly have to make sure they are not just a talking shop."

But Peter Box said that the new assembly would be a cumbersome new tier of bureaucracy.

He said: "It is clear that some issues affect us all across the region and cannot be resolves by one single authority."