A Whitehall watchdog has cleared Labour of wrongdoing after the party was accused of stuffing the civil service with donors and supporters.

The Civil Service Commission launched an investigation following complaints by the Tories that the government had given people jobs without going through the proper procedure.

In their report published today, they found that 550 “appointments by exception” were made by the new government in July and August.

However, that was “considerably lower” than the Tories’ time in office, when 61,815 civil service jobs were handed out in that way at a rate of 1,287 a month.

The CSC report said: “The review found that fewer exceptions were made in this period than is typical in a similar length of time.

“Their usage varied by number and appointment length across civil service departments and organisations.

“The review identified a range of good practice and some areas that required improvement. The commission was largely satisfied with processes in place within departments to apply, consider and approve exception requests.”

A Labour source said: “This report destroys the Tory Party’s desperate smear campaign and exposes their rank hypocrisy after they made more than four times as many civil service appointments a month without competition.”

A government spokesperson said: “Exceptions are an important part of bringing talent and expertise into the civil service.  

“We welcome this report from the independent Civil Service Commission, which sets out that the commission is largely satisfied with the processes around exceptions and identifies a range of good practice across government. 

“We will continue to work with the CSC to strengthen internal processes and ensure consistency across departments.”