BRADFORD business chiefs, council leaders and politicians have given a mixed reaction to today's Autumn Statement in which Chancellor George Osborne expanded on his "Northern Powerhouse" pledge.

In a small devolutionary step, he said local transport chiefs will be handed the power to decide how to give Leeds-Bradford Airport proper transport links with a long-awaited feasibility study – considering both a rail link, or a new road being published within days.

But he also showed no signs of backing down in his demand for a directly-elected 'metro mayor' which the Telegraph & Argus revealed today had failed to win the support of council leaders in the region.

In his speech, Mr Osborne made only a passing reference to other cities following Greater Manchester’s lead, saying: “My door is open to other cities who want to follow.”

In the ‘Budget book’, however, the Chancellor warns that city-regions without “strong civil leadership” pay an economic price.

Arguing for a metro mayor, it reads: “Cities around the world with fragmented governance have lower levels of productivity than those that do not.”

In the speech, Mr Osborne also promised to create a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ across the Pennines, including by:

* Confirming the new Northern Rail franchise will replace “the ancient and unpopular Pacer carriages with new and modern trains”.

* Completing the 'smart' motorway on the M62 between Leeds and Manchester.

* Holding a £1m Great Exhibition in the North to “celebrate the great art, culture and design”.

* Setting up a ‘sovereign wealth fund’ for the North so its shale gas resources “are used to invest in the future of the North”.

But the headlines were grabbed by Mr Osborne’s surprise decision to cut stamp duty for most homebuyers by replacing the current costly “cliff edges” with a graduated rate.

No tax will be paid on the first £125,000 of a property, two per cent on the portion up to £250,000, five per cent between £250,000 and £925,000, ten per cent up to £1.5m and 12 per cent above that.

The move – from midnight – will cut £353 from the stamp duty bill for someone buying a typical Bradford detached house (£214,700) and was warmly welcomed by Bradford-based Yorkshire Building Society’.

“The reform of stamp duty represents a win for many home buyers," said Tanya Jackson, its head of corporate affairs.

“This system is a dramatic improvement on what it replaces and makes almost all buyers better off.".

Proposals for business rates to be reviewed also won the support of Bradford business chiefs.

Mike Cartwright, policy and representation executive at the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "The announcement to review business rates is long overdue – welcome, but still overdue.

"If our calls for this had been answered a few years ago, we wouldn’t have had to wait until 2016 for potential changes.

"To be effective, the review needs to be far-reaching and not simply a tinkering at the edges.

"We also welcome the ‘roads revolution’ investment, which will hopefully tackle some of the congestion hotspots that are clogging up the major highways of West and North Yorkshire.

“Access to finance is still cited as a key issue for many firms and so the plans to pump more money into lending are a good thing – we just need to ensure that it gets through to those that need it as quickly as possible and not get stuck in the system.

"However, the Autumn Statement was a decent stab at backing business and growth, given the fiscal constraints. But, the Government now needs to turn these words into action.”

But David Green, leader of Labour-run Bradford Council, was not impressed.

He said: "There is nothing that you could point to that would be a benefit to Bradford in creating employment and to help to deliver services.

"It offers nothing new to actually support the economic development we are striving to achieve in the district."

Meanwhile, David Ward MP (Lib Dem, Bradford East) backed the Personal Tax Allowance increase to £10,600 from next April. This will give basic rate tax payers, including more than 40,000 across Bradford, a further tax cut of £120.

He said: "This statement shows that we are able to implement positive changes and invest in our infrastructure precisely because the Lib Dems have overseen proper management of the economy.

“A £820 tax cut for hard-working Bradfordians since 2010 is a huge amount of money but we want to go further and increase this over the next Parliament to ensure that nobody earning minimum wage pays any income tax at all."

Keighley Conservative MP Kris Hopkins said: “The changes to stamp duty are also very good news and will mean that the buyer of an average family home will pay £4,500, with people purchasing the highest value properties paying more."

Other announcements included Air Passenger Duty for children under 12 will be scrapped from May next year, and extended to under 16s in 2016.

Fuel duty has been frozen, a jobs tax on apprenticeships will be scrapped and the doubling of Small Business Rate Relief has been extended. Refunding VAT for hospices and air ambulances was also announced.