The Cabinet Office is examining the commissioning of a report that made false claims about journalists who were investigating Labour Together, the thinktank closely linked to Keir Starmer, a cabinet minister has said.

Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, indicated it would not be a formal inquiry, as demanded by the Conservatives and some Labour MPs, noting that the trade association for the PR industry was carrying out such an investigation.

Downing Street declined to comment on what form the process would take. It is understood that it is likely to be led by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team.

The standards committee of the Public Relations and Communications Association is examining a report compiled by the PR consultancy Apco Worldwide into the “sourcing, funding and origins” of a November 2023 Sunday Times report about Labour Together.

The research was paid for and subsequently reviewed by Josh Simons, according to sources and documents seen by the Guardian. He was director of Labour Together and is now a Labour MP and Cabinet Office minister.

Kendall told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s absolutely right that the relevant regulatory body that covers public affairs is already investigating this. The Cabinet Office will be establishing the facts.”

Asked if this was a formal investigation, Kendall hinted this was not the case, saying: “Establishing the facts is the first thing that you’ve got to do on anything, isn’t it? If you want to look into something properly, you have to be able to establish the facts.”

She added: “The freedom of the press, difficult though it is, is an essential part of the proper functioning of a parliamentary democracy, and that’s extremely important.”

Speaking at an event in London on Monday morning, Starmer said he had been in the dark about Labour Together’s actions. “I didn’t know anything about this investigation, and it absolutely needs to be looked into, so the Cabinet Office will be establishing the facts,” he said.

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