Tony Blair yesterday sought to pre-empt the findings his Pensions Commission today by claiming the next wave of welfare reforms will aim to fundamentally change the relationship between the individual and the state.

Addressing an Institute for Public Policy Research gathering, the prime minister said his third term mission was to create an "opportunity society".

Blair promised welfare reforms that would give people active assistance rather than merely respond to their problems.

The report from the commission, which is published later today, will reveal that Britons are saving £57 billion a year too little to pay for the costs of retirement.

It has been estimated that between eight and 13 million people are not saving enough for old age.

As a result the commission, chaired by former CBI chief Adair Turner, is expected to set out a series of radical options to tackle the problem.

These will focus on higher taxes, encouraging more private savings and raising the retirement age from the present figure of 65.

Yesterday TUC general secretary Brendan Barber called for a "wider debate" on what he described as the "pensions crisis".

He warned that a voluntary approach to savings had failed, with too much means testing and not enough flexibility in the retirement age.

Meanwhile the CBI has published figures showing that employer contributions rose from £18 billion in 1997 to £37 billion in 2003.

"Firms must do more but so must individuals and government," said director general Digby Jones.

"It may be politically difficult but it's a government responsibility to show leadership and so far this has been insufficiently forthcoming. I have high hopes the new secretary of state will move the situation to new ground."

And shadow pensions secretary David Willetts published Conservative proposals, which he described as "way ahead of anything this government has done".

"We are proposing increasing the basic state pension to roll back means testing, new incentives to save, and support for company pensions," he said.