6.—(1) Beneficiaries eligible to receive benefit under these Regulations are the persons selected by the Secretary of State who satisfy the conditions in regulation 7, other than those who are excluded by regulation 8.
(2) The Secretary of State shall select such persons on the basis set out in regulation 9.
7. The conditions are—
(a)the person must have claimed and be in receipt of a retirement pension; and
(b)that retirement pension must be paid by way of direct credit transfer to that person’s bank or other account.
8.—(1) A person is excluded if, at the time of selection, that person—
(a)is a resident in a care home;
(b)is an in-patient at a hospital;
(c)is a member of a religious order; or
(d)has indicated to the Secretary of State, expressly or otherwise, a preference not to receive communication in respect of matters connected with social security.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)—
“care home”—
in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as that given by section 3 (care homes) of the Care Standards Act 2000(1); and
in relation to Scotland, means accommodation provided by a care home service within the meaning of section 2(3) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001(2);
“hospital” has the same meaning as in section 275 (interpretation) of the National Health Service Act 2006(3).
9.—(1) The Secretary of State shall select persons on a random basis from those whom the Secretary of State estimates, taking into account the information specified in paragraph (2), would be entitled to state pension credit under section 1 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002 if such persons were to make a claim for that benefit under section 1 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992(4).
(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) is information—
(a)held by the Secretary of State in relation to social security; and
(b)supplied to the Secretary of State for the purposes of functions relating to social security.
(3) The Secretary of State shall not select more than 2000 persons.
10. For the purposes of section 1(2)(a) of the 2002 Act, a person is to be treated as being in Great Britain if information held by the Secretary of State in respect of that person’s retirement pension shows that that person has a residential address in Great Britain.
1992 c. 5. State pension credit is a benefit to which section 1 applies by virtue of section 1(4)(ab), inserted by paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 to the State Pension Credit Act 2002 (c. 16).