Gordon Brown has given the go-ahead for civil servants to provide information to the opposition parties during negotiations to form a new government if the general election results in a hung parliament, it has been disclosed.

With the polls pointing to the prospect of no one party gaining an overall majority, cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell disclosed that officials had been working on advice for politicians on how they should proceed.

The draft guidelines, released by the Cabinet Office, are intended to form part of a new “Cabinet manual” for ministers to be published once the election is over.

However, Sir Gus said that they were aiming to finalise and publish the chapter dealing with elections and the formation of a new government before the election - widely expected to be held on 6 May - takes place.

He said they included a provision to enable the prime minister to ask the Cabinet Office to provide support for both government and opposition during discussions to form a stable government.

“I have discussed this with the prime minister and he has indicated to me that he would support that use of civil servants. That means that we would be ready to do this in the event of a hung parliament,” he said.

Sir Gus stressed that he was not talking about support for the political negotiations, but “objective, factual advice” about the business of government.

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