THE findings of the Smith Commission into additional powers for Scotland have been welcomed by Glasgow's leaders.

The commission set up by Prime Minister David Cameron following the vote against Scottish indepen-dence has come up witha wide list of recommend-ations aimed at strengthening devolution.

City council leader Gordon Matheson noted Lord Smith had highlighted the strong desire for further local devolution of powers from Holyrood.

He said: "It will be a historic missed oppor-tunity if the Commission leads only to the transfer of powers from one centralising parliament to another.

"Devolution cannot stop at Holyrood. Metropolitan cities are the country's over-achievers. They are the powerhouses of the economy.

"Cities have the capacity to do so much more to grow the economy and tackle poverty.

"This requires signifi-cant additional powers and resources be devolved from both the Scottish and UK Governments to our cities."

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief execu-tive Stuart Patrick said the commission's report contained a number of far reaching proposals.

He highlighted the devolution of income tax which he said could have significant implications for business investment in the years ahead.

Mr Patrick said: "For many businesses personal taxes can be as important in influencing business decisions as corporate taxes.

"We have also called for some time for Scotland to be given power over Air Passenger Duty. We would like to see it vastly reduced or abolished completely."

The boss of Glasgow Airport also welcomed the recommendation that APD should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Managing director Amanda McMillan said: "APD is the highest form of aviation tax in the world and it is important it is devolved and reformed as soon as possible.

"APD is a damaging, regressive tax which in addition to dissuading airlines from adding new routes, makes it extremely challenging to maintain existing services.

vivienne.nicoll@eveningtimes.co.uk