TITP Funding Probe

A Fife MSP is demanding answers over why T in the Park received £150, 000 of state aid.

Claire Baker has written to the Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop asking her to clarify why the festival received taxpayer cash.

It's understood the money was handed over to help with the transition from Balado to Strathallan Castle.

Ministers have described it as 'one-off grant funding support'.

Ms Baker's letter in full:

Dear Fiona

State aid for T in the Park
 
I am writing further to media reports that a former Scottish Government adviser helped broker a £150,000 state aid grant for the T in the Park festival this year.
 
Obviously T in the Park is one of Scotland’s great institutions, it’s also one of the most profitable music festivals in the UK, and has been for over two decades.
 
I understand that the state aid grant was given on the basis of the festival transitioning from its previous site in Baladao to Strathallan Castle.
 
I also understand that the company behind T in the Park, DF Concerts Ltd is 78 per cent owned by London-based LN-Gaiety Holdings Ltd, which last year had a turnover of £167 million and a pre-tax profit of £9m.
 
Given the success of T in the Park, these figures surely raise the question of why the festival needed any form of public funding.
 
I of course recognise the valuable contribution T in the Park has had on the Scottish economy over the past two decades, but it has also generated significant sums of money during that time.
 
I would be grateful if you could clarify on what grounds this state aid was deemed necessary for one of the most profitable events in the Scottish cultural calendar.
 
Sincerely,
 
Claire Baker MSP