SCOTTISH ministers do not know what a £150,000 hand out to T in the Park was spent on, the Culture Secretary has admitted.
Fiona Hyslop, in a letter to Holyrood's education and culture committee, said that promoter DF Concerts was working on a "post event debrief process" and that a report providing a breakdown of how taxpayers' cash was spent would be provided by April next year.
In its original appeal for state aid, which was approved following a meeting brokered between DF Concerts and Ms Hyslop by an ex-SNP special advisor who was working for the promoter, the firm asked for cash to help with infrastructure costs.
However, the Scottish Government said that spending on infrastructure would not be allowed under state aid rules, and that cash would instead have to be used exclusively for venue hire and consultants fees.
Ms Hyslop awarded the cash to help with the event's move from Balado to Strathallan, despite being aware that DF Concerts have consistently reported multi-million pound profits in recent years.
In the letter to the committee, which is examining the grant and may yet call Ms Hyslop back for further questioning, she said: "I can confirm that DF Concerts and Events are working their way through a post event debrief process and that a report confirming how the money was spent along with the outcomes and lessons learned from staging the event at the new Strathallan site will be shared, on a commercial in confidence basis, with the Scottish Government. This report will be provided within the current 2015/16 financial year."
She added the Geoff Ellis, the boss of DF Concerts, had confirmed that she had been "quite right in thinking" that a possibility he highlighted of T in the Park having to move elsewhere due to high relocation costs may have meant it could have left Scotland.
Scottish Conservative culture spokeswoman Liz Smith said that response raised more questions than answers. She added: "If it is correct that the £150,000 was used only to pay for costs relating to the venue hire and consultants' fees then why, three months after the event, is it not possible to have a detailed breakdown of how this public money was spent in these two items. These costs must have been known at the time of the event.
"The cabinet secretary has confirmed that DF Concerts are ‘working their way through a post event debrief process’ but she also confirms that the report which details how the money was spent will only be shared in confidence with the Scottish Government. I am sure the public will question this on-going lack of transparency about the use of public funds."
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