The UK government does not know how many millions of pounds it has paid to Andersen, whose &quotindependent report&quot into the viability of public-private partnerships helped it win advisory roles on projects with a capital cost of £10bn (€16bn).

Andersen has been awarded work on 37 projects since Tony Blair's Labour party took control of the UK government in 1997, ending 12 years of governmental ban on the accountancy firm's involvement in the private finance initiative (PFI) deals.