The shadow work and pensions secretary, David Willetts, proposed an overhaul of pension credit at the Bournemouth conference yesterday.

Forum Response: Age Concern

Gordon Lishman, director-general for Age Concern England, told ePolitix.com: "The Conservative's proposal to put the cost of the pension credit into a higher rate of pension for those over 80 would give with one hand and take with the other.

"We fully support the need for extra money for older pensioners, but this should not be at the expense of those under 80, who represent over three-quarters of the pensioner population.

"We are still left waiting to see the Conservatives propose an overall approach to tackling the problem of pensioner poverty, and their failure to recognise the basic state pension as the bedrock is deeply worrying."

Forum Response: Help the Aged

Mervyn Kohler, head of public affairs for Help the Aged, told ePolitix.com: "Older pensioners do tend to be worse off than those who are younger, as David Willetts pointed out.

"It is welcome, therefore, to see the Tories agreeing that more, and new, money needs to be steered in that direction.

"We at Help the Aged would like to think that this is just the first step towards a commitment to improving basic pensioner incomes across the board."