PRESSURE is mounting on Whitehall's honours committee to scrap its quota system and give awards to a swathe of Olympians after a ministerial intervention and criticism from MPs, who this week are expected to say the honours system is not fit for purpose.

Sports Secretary Jeremy Hunt made it clear that while honours were awarded by an independent committee, this was "a special year" and athletes who had taken part in the Games should get "as much recognition as possible".

Despite the fact the honours committee is supposed to be independent of government, Prime Minister David Cameron knows there is likely to be a public backlash if only a handful of Olympians and Paralympians receive public awards in the New Year's Honours List.

While Mo Farah, the double Olympic gold medallist is widely expected to get a knighthood for his achievement this summer, the quota system means he is likely to be the only one while several civil service mandarins can expect to be granted the same award simply for long service.

However, the Commons Public Administration Committee is set to recommend an end to "gongs for jobs" in a report this week.

A source close to the committee said: "The current system has become an utter joke in poor taste. Gongs are being doled out to civil servants and businessmen just for doing their job. More deserving members of the public are being overlooked."

Sir Garth Morrison, Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian, was quoted as saying: "Too many honours are bestowed on people who are perceived simply to be doing the job for which they are paid ... whereas an equally talented, committed and hard-working individual who devotes some of his or her time to an organisation like the Scouts is much less likely (to be honoured."

It has also been suggested that some Labour members of the committee have said it is time to drop the word "empire" from the honours as it is an anachronism.