The government should do more to develop a cross-departmental strategy for older people, the National Audit Office has said.

The spending watchdog said there should be better feedback mechanisms to inform older people about how services are improving. And the report found that older people are major users of public services - but are frequently left out of the consultation loop.

Forum Response: Help the Aged

Tessa Harding, head of policy at Help the Aged, said: "Help the Aged welcomes the NAO report. It contains very practical recommendations that could make a real difference to the effectiveness of government policy.

"The government has made very real progress on older people's issues, but its actions are still insufficiently co-ordinated. There is a need for an overall strategy and the inclusion of older people across all aspects of government policy. Bluntly, older people must be recognised as full citizens with rounded lives.

"Certain policy areas are still found wanting in terms of proper inclusion of older people, for instance, neighbourhood renewal, lifelong learning and defeating poverty.

"A prime example can be found in efforts to tackle age discrimination. Why do current plans include employment but not goods and services too? Put simply, this would send the right message; why should older people have to put up with being second class citizens?

"It is true that older people themselves are being consulted and involved more than they used to be. However, the government needs to commit itself to an open and continuing dialogue with older people in the same way that it requires local authorities and primary care trusts to do."

Forum Response: Counsel and Care

Martin Green, chief executive of Counsel and Care, told ePolitix.com: "The government does have a cross departmental approach but it needs to be higher profile and placed at the centre of its agenda, rather than on the peripheries."

Forum Response: Age Concern

A spokesman for Age Concern told ePolitix.com: "We hear from older people who experience age discrimination. We also know that pensioners are at risk of living in poverty and that many older people are socially excluded.

"As the NAO have pointed out there is a need for a joined-up approach from government to tackle these and other issues facing older people, and Age Concern strongly supports the recommendation for a government-wide strategy to support older people.

"There has been some real progress however, especially in terms of following the Department of Health in appointing older people's champions, who we feel have the potential to keep older people's issues at the top of the agenda.

"Older people's champions are well-placed to ensure government actively consults and involves older people when planning the services they need and use."

Forum Response: Association of Retired Persons Over 50

Don Steele, policy director of ARPO50, told ePolitix.com: "The report from the National Audit Office highlights a major challenge which the government will have to face if its strategy for our ageing population is to be successful.

"Too frequently policy is developed on the basis that something has to be done 'for' older people without taking their feelings or aspirations into account and there is little perception that this might appear patronising. Even the State pension, for which people feel they have paid all their working lives, is described as a 'welfare benefit' and its inadequacies are compensated for by the addition of a 'winter fuel allowance'.

"The government has made efforts to open up channels of communication through such innovations as Better Government for Older People but most people have never heard of it, let alone understand what it is for. Ministers are listening more than ever before but many older people feel they hear verylittle.

"The reason why communication is so difficult is spelled out clearly by the NAO. There is fragmentation and lack of clarity. Responsibility is divided among a variety of departments who have no central point of reference.

"For economic and demographic reasons the government has been forced to place age on the public policy agenda. It is more likely to reach its objectives if it involves in a co-ordinated and coherent manner the people actually involved".