Minister: funding allocations should be based on joint-agency working

“But what we also have is a spending review coming up, and I would make a general point that I think what we need to see is even more joined-up government.

“And I would like to see us, as individual departments, working more closely together in terms of the bids that we put into the spending review. I’ve probably said more than I should, but that is what I think we ought to be doing.”

The minister also noted that “quite a lot of the time when funding streams are available there are a lot of people vying for the same funding streams”.

He added: “What I would like us to be doing is saying to people, ‘Yes, bid for money, but actually the opportunity to get hold of funding will also be predicated on how you work more closely together in terms of a multi-agency approach.’”

Mr Sharma also revealed plans to conduct a series of roundtables with housing associations “to talk about how we can work more closely together in terms of helping people into work”.

“We just need to be even more joined up in terms of the way we deliver our support and so that is my challenge to you,” he said.

“And what I would say to you when we have these roundtables is: ‘Try to get more involved in some of the work that we are doing in terms of programmes we are running, but at the same time, you should challenge me and my department, asking us what more we can do to support you.’”

Mr Sharma hinted that the benefit freeze could be lifted at the spending review, saying he hopes “what we will see is us moving forward from the freeze”.

Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd has previously suggested she expects the freeze, introduced in 2016, to come to an end in 2020.