An influential Labour MP is urging the chancellor to give more help to pensioners in Wednesday's Budget.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, the Dumbarton MP and chairman of the Treasury select committee, John McFall calls for a "transparent" Budget that delivers results on the ground.

"I would like to see what I call a see-through budget. That is, transparency between the money pledged and the results on the ground. Also, it is less than useful if we have higher spending on different policies and departments without the necessary reforms," he told this website.

Forum Response: National Association of Pension Funds

A spokeswoman for the National Association of Pension Funds told ePolitix.com: "Corporate social responsibility is important to pension funds, and the NAPF welcomes the news that the Treasury Select Committee will take a closer look at these issues. The NAPF is encouraging its members to use their votes as shareholders to influence corporate behaviour for the better.

"Many leading UK companies now provide details of their environmental, social and ethical policies. At a time when investors are becoming increasingly aware of these issues, and of so-called reputational investment risk, UK pension funds have been encouraged by the government to pursue socially responsible investment strategies.

"The NAPF has produced information to help its members, and other institutional investors, to engage with the companies in which they invest. The NAPF believes that going out and talking directly to firms about their policies is more likely to stimulate consideration of social, environmental and ethical issues than simply excluding them from the portfolio."

Forum Response: Age Concern

A spokeswoman for Age Concern told ePolitix.com: "We would also like the chancellor to give some clarity to the pensions system, to enable people to have more confidence about their income in retirement.

"Since the government came into power it has made a number of measures to improve older people's incomes but it has become very difficult for people to understand what they are or will be getting in retirement.

"Our recent MORI poll demonstrated public feelings of confusion, insecurity and fear around future pension provision."

Forum Response: Help the Aged

A spokesman for Help the Aged said: "While the pension credit does mean a significant tranche of new money will be targeted at pensioners and while the aim of fair distribution is a laudable one, the fact remains that the new credit is vastly over-complicated, baffling to those it is supposed to benefit and costly to implement.

"Add to these problems the fact that it will bring half of the UK's pensioner population, five-and-a-half million people, into means testing and you have a situation in which many older people will miss out on what is rightfully theirs, through bureaucracy or unwillingness to engage with the system.

"Mr McFall is absolutely right to say that 'simplicity is required' when dealing with benefits for pensioners. However, there is no simple way to explain how the pension credit works."