The public spending watchdog has cleared the culture minister of any wrongdoing over a £150,000 state aid grant to the organisers of T in the Park.

Audit Scotland said Fiona Hyslop acted within Scottish Government guidelines and had a clear rationale for approving the funds.

It added that outcomes and milestones for monitoring progress were clearly set out and that her decision was in line with advice from Scottish Government officials.

However, the watchdog advised that the "robustness and internal clarity" of future decisions of this nature could be enhanced and it has made several recommendations.

Ms Hyslop came in for criticism last year after it was revealed she had been informed that the organisers of Scotland's biggest music festival, DF Concerts, had made £6.2m in profit just weeks before approving the grant.

A row broke out in the wake of the festival and included accusations of cronyism, which led to prospective SNP Holyrood candidate Jennifer Dempsie, a former project manager for DF Concerts and aide to Alex Salmond, dropping out of the election race.

Ms Hyslop was grilled by fellow MSPs on Holyrood's Education and Culture Committee over the funding decision, with Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon accusing her of showing "contempt" for the Scottish Parliament.

Several members also complained that 600 pages of documents relating to the funding decision had been heavily redacted and only released at 8pm the night before her evidence session.

The funding decision was investigated after being referred to Audit Scotland by another MSP.

The watchdog concluded its investigation on Wednesday.

In a written response to the MSP who referred the matter, an Audit Scotland official wrote: "There was a clear rationale for the grant at the point at which the Scottish Government committed to provide the grant to DF Concerts.

"The outcomes and milestones against which progress was to be monitored are also clearly articulated in the award letter.

"The Scottish Government had the legal authority to make the grant. The decision to award the grant to DF Concerts was a legitimate policy decision for the cabinet secretary, and was consistent with advice she received from Scottish Government officials.

"There was also budget provision for the grant, within the Culture and European Affairs budget, Major Events and Themed Years.

"There is also evidence that Scottish Government has taken steps to confirm that the money was spent in line with the grant conditions through its review of the final report provided by DF Concerts and related invoices."

The money was awarded to the festival to help with relocation costs and consultant fees after organisers moved it from its long-term home Balado to Strathallan Castle near Auchterarder.

The watchdog added: "In our opinion, the robustness and internal clarity of the decision factors leading to the award of grant would be enhanced if there was a requirement for: Scottish Government staff to record, in one place, consideration of factors such as aims and objectives, options appraisal, value for money, additionality and expected outcomes.

"Organisations applying for funds to formally set out economic, financial, social and other arguments in favour of their request.

"Where appropriate, this could be facilitated by the completion of an application form or equivalent. "We understand that Scottish Government requires flexibility to react promptly to circumstances as they arise, but in our view this needs to be balanced with enhanced internal clarity and evidence to support decisionmaking.

"The Scottish Government has work ongoing in this area."

DF Concerts won planning permission and an entertainment licence to stage the festival at Strathallan around a month before the event took place despite hundreds of letters of objection and a campaign to oppose it.

The festival was marred by transport problems, planning breaches and crowd safety issues.

This prompted Perth and Kinross Council to publish a scathing review, warning that it would not be given the green light in 2016 unless management of the event was drastically improved.

DF Concerts replaced many of its senior managers in the weeks after the festival and has pledged to improve things next year.

Download: The STV News app is Scotland's favourite and is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from Google Play. Download it today and continue to enjoy STV News wherever you are.