Mr Kwarteng has chosen audit reform as a “shovel-ready” project that can help him make a direct political impact, however, industry sources have said that legal reforms put on the back burner by his department due to COVID-19 and Brexit will not be placed before MPS until next year, industry sources said.

Nevertheless, politicians and accountants have called for the UK Government to push ahead and implement any changes as soon as possible, The Daily Telegraph reports.

As part of the package, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will be replaced by the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority, with new powers to hold auditors and directors to account.

A report released in 2018 by Sir John Kingman, a former Treasury official, labelled the FRC a “ramshackle house” for presiding over low quality audits and a series of accounting scandals such as Patisserie Valerie and Carollion.

According to industry sources, the delayed consultation on the Government’s recommendations for reforming the sector is set to run for an extended period of between four and six months.

The consultation follows three independent reports on the audit sector, the last of which was published in 2019, and is expected to be published within weeks but the exact timing will be dictated by the government.

David Herbinet, global head of audit at accountant Mazars, said further delay was “not helpful for anyone”.

A government spokesman said: “Audit reform is a priority and we will publish comprehensive proposals shortly.”