A REPORT which claims that devolving powers to cities could boost the UK economy by £80 billion has got local leaders talking.

The UK needs "devo met" - devolution of power to metropolitan areas - to accompany maximum devolution in Scotland, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) City Growth Commission said.

Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green, said the report backed up what those in Bradford and other metropolitan areas had been saying all along.

He said: "Now we have the academic evidence to back up what we already knew on the ground."

The report names West Yorkshire as one of five areas most ready for devolution, as it already has a so-called Combined Authority bringing together the area's councils.

Cllr Green said: "The report highlights the fact that we need no massive change in legislation, we don't need discussion about English votes for English MPs or anything else. It is more about us using public funds better and more effectively."

The report suggests an "Oyster card for the north", similar to London's integrated transport card, a high-speed underground system and the reform of national immigration policies in favour of taking a metro-led approach.

Cllr Green welcomed the Oyster card idea, saying they were already hoping to introduce one for West Yorkshire.

But he said he would "hate to think" how much an underground for the north would cost, and said overground routes should be improved instead.

And Cllr Green also said the idea of local immigration schemes sounded like a "bureaucratic nightmare".

Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins also had a mixed reaction to the report.

The Conservative MP for Keighley said there was "real scope" to go further with devolution, such as joining up different public services to deliver a better deal for local taxpayers.

He said: "Localism in England should be about devolving power to the lowest appropriate level - down to councils, down to neighbourhoods and down to individuals. Creating new taxes, more politicians and new tiers of local administration isn't the answer - the starting point should be increasing local democracy and local accountability.

"However, many of these proposals in this report are poorly thought out - such as local immigration policies, which would clearly not work given councils don't have their own border patrols."