In a report to be published next month, MPs on the Public Administration Committee will question whether granting accountants billions of pounds of public-sector contracts undermines the "public-sector ethos".

Andersen, the firm embroiled in the collapse of the American energy giant Enron, has been hired by the Government to work on Private Finance Initiative deals.

The report is likely to question whether the Enron affair has changed the "general atmosphere" in which private finance deals can be done. A source close to the committee said it would ask whether the Government's use of PFIs and partnerships created a conflict of interest that undermined the spirit of public service.

The Government will have to look more closely at the possible conflict of interest between commissioning reports from accountancy firms on PFI deals when these companies also stand to gain from the policy.

The findings will embarrass the Government, which has been trying desperately to fend off links to the Enron affair. The Prime Minister has repeatedly quoted an Andersen report claiming that PPPs offer cost savings of 17 per cent, as well as similar reports from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

But Tony Wright, the Labour chairman of the committee, is expected to warn the Government not to rely too heavily on using business to improve the delivery of health and transport services at the expense of the principles of public service.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants confirmed yesterday it had requested facts about Lord Wakeham's part in the collapse of Enron from the American authorities. The Tory peer, who is a member of the professional body, could be struck off as a chartered accountant if an inquiry is launched that proves compromising.

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