Rishi Sunak will appoint an “independent investigator” to examine complaints made by staff who worked for Dominic Raab, but is unable to say when the probe will start.
Work is underway to find a person with “requisite experience” – in the absence of a permanent ethics adviser, after Boris Johnson failed to fill the role, No 10 said.
But a spokeswoman could not say the investigation will start by Christmas, saying: “I’m not going to put a date on it”.
Earlier, Mr Raab accused Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner of “bluster and mudslinging” as she challenged him on the bullying allegations at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Just hours before the session the justice secretary and deputy PM confirmed that he was at the centre of two formal complaints.
One of the complaints relates to the cabinet minister’s time as foreign secretary, a role he held from 2019 to 2021, while the other relates to his first spell as justice secretary from 2021 to 2022.
