People surviving on Universal Credit may be wondering what will happen to their benefits following the Conservatives' landslide election victory last week.
The new welfare system, which sees six benefit payments into one monthly sum, is being rolled out across the UK - but has proved unpopular, reports Manchester Evening News.
Labour pledged to overhaul the new payment system after claiming it had pushed thousands of people further into poverty.
And the Trussell Trust foodbank charity partly blamed Universal Credit for its soaring demand at sites across the country.
However, the Conservative Party has defended the system insisting it encourages claimants who can work to do so.
Boris Johnson's manifesto confirmed that the roll out of the new system would continue under a Tory government - but some crucial changes were promised.
Most importantly, the Conservatives pledged to end the benefits freeze in 2020.
That means that Universal Credit and other benefits payments will rise 1.7 per cent in line with inflation in April and the state pension will increase by 3.9 per cent.
Introduced in 2015 by Tory former chancellor George Osborne, ending the freeze will cost £5 billion per year according to the DWP.
During their general election campaign, the party promised to "do more to make sure that Universal Credit works for the most vulnerable" but did not put forward any specific new policies.
The manifesto also suggested a tougher approach to people cheating the system, saying the party would "make sure those who cheat the system by committing benefit fraud are punished".
And there's good news for disabled people claiming benefits after the Tories have promised to reduce the number of assessments needed.
The manifesto states: "As part of our efforts to empower and support disabled people,we will reduce the number of reassessments a disabled person must go through when a significant change in condition is unlikely – because you should not have to provide repeated proof of your disability in order to receive support."
The party also says it will publish a National Strategy for Disabled People before the end of 2020, which will outline ways of improving the benefits system for disabled claimants.
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