A committee of U.K. MPs has announced that its investigations into a fund set up to help the country’s beleaguered car industry has found that not a single penny of the £2.3 billion invested has found its way to manufacturers. A spokesperson for the Automotive Assistance Programme which was set up in January said that the fund was created in order to help firms in the long term and that it was still deciding how best to manage the money supplied by the British tax payer.

Chairman of the committee, Peter Luff said that when the fund was set up it offered the automotive industry a real chance of help but since then and many months after its establishment not a single loan or guarantee had been made. He went on to say that it was up to the government to make sure that funds were released as soon as possible.

Since the Automotive Assistance Programme was set up at the beginning of the year the car industry in the U.K. has recovered somewhat from the affects of a devastating recession. A £400 million scrappage scheme put into place by the government has meant that buyers can get up to £2,000 off a new car if they trade in a vehicle which is over ten years old. The scheme was introduced in the summer and is set to expire by February next year.

Critics of the Automotive Assistance Programme have said that it is not working because it is too inflexible.