Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop is to face a Holyrood grilling over her decision to hand T in the Park £150,000 of taxpayers' cash.

Opposition party members on the parliament's education and culture committee succeeded in a bid to have the minister summoned to appear before them.

In a separate move, Scottish Labour called for her to make a statement to parliament about the "ad hoc state aid package".

The pop festival received public funding following a meeting between Ms Hyslop and Geoff Ellis, the boss of T in Park promoter DF Converts, which was brokered by Jennifer Dempsie a former aide to Alex Salmond and the partner of SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson.

Ms Dempsie was working for the promoters when the meeting was arranged on May 28.

After Mr Ellis raised unexpected costs caused by T in the Park relocating from Ballado, Fife, to Strathallan Castle, in Perthshire, Ms Hyslop agreed the grant in July.

Ms Demspie's role in arranging the meeting has prompted accusations of cronyism, given her SNP connections.

Earlier this week she abandoned a bid to be selected as an SNP candidate in the Highlands and Islands region.

Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, has already ruled that Ms Hyslop acted appropriately in awarding the grant.

But Scottish Conservative culture spokeswoman Liz Smith said: "It is imperative that the culture secretary puts the full facts on the table.

"For far too long, the funding of T in the Park has been clouded in mystery with the inevitable result that the public felt the Scottish Government had something to hide.

"Before any decision is made about T in the Park 2016, everyone needs a categorical assurance that there will be full transparency over the decision making process which was so absent for T in the Park 2015."

Scottish Liberal Democrat education and culture committee member Liam McArthur MSP said:

"It is still unclear as to why the Scottish Government granted a profitable company £150,000 in state aid for an event that had already taken place. "Statements from the Culture Secretary so far have told us next to nothing so I welcome the fact that the Education Committee has agreed to take action."

Calling for a ministerial statement, Labour's James Kelly said: "The questions around this deal are much bigger than the political ambitions of a former SNP adviser.

"The way a government spends taxpayers' money is important. At a time when half of poor kids leave primary school unable to read properly the SNP Government

should be spending more money on education, not T in the Park."

Earlier this year The Herald revealed how senior minister John Swinney and Derek Mackay also had talks with DF Concerts before the award was made.

Ms Sturgeon defended the deal after she was asked to investigate Ms Hyslop's decision under the ministerial code of conduct.

She said the Culture Secretary "acted entirely appropriately" and added: "The decision to award funding to support T in the Park was based solely on the merits of the case following an objective assessment by Scottish Government officials."