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Sir John Whittingdale corrected a written answer on Cultural Heritage: Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

22 November 2023 · Commons written answer · Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Andrew Rosindell (Conservative, Romford) asked written question 1839 on 14 November 2023. Sir John Whittingdale answered on 22 November 2023 for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Sir John Whittingdale corrected the answer on 22 November 2023. The correction replaced 3 figures (194, £140 million, £31,000) with 5 figures (£20,000, £250,000, £3 million, £6,421, £7,950). Altogether 292 words differ between the two versions.

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to promote the cultural heritage of the Irish diaspora in England in (a) general and (b) Romford constituency.

Original and corrected answer

Struck through: original only. Bold: correction only.

OriginalCorrected
Theatre is the artform that receives the most public funding via Arts Council England, and there are now more theatre organisations in its National Portfolio than ever before. In 2023–24, Arts Council England is investing over £140 million in 194 theatre organisations, including 47 new theatre organisations joining the portfolio this year. The Arts Council will be investing £31,000 in theatre organisations in Romford in 2023–24.
In addition, theatres and orchestras will continue to benefit from the extension by His Majesty’s Government of the higher rates of tax relief for a further two years, as announced at Spring Budget 2023.		His Majesty’s Government has supported a number of projects looking at the cultural heritage of the Irish diaspora through its arm’s-length bodies.
 Arts Council England supported the Irish Arts Foundation on its 'Exploring the musical traditions of County Cork & County Kerry' project in Leeds, providing over £20,000 of public funding in 2021/22.
In 2022/23, The National Lottery Community Fund provided £7,950 of funding to Leeds Irish Arts Foundation’s ‘Neighbours!’ project, to help engage people from around West Yorkshire in Irish music and workshops to celebrate Irish culture, music and arts. In 2023/24, The National Lottery Community Fund provided £6,421 of funding to Cú Chulainn’s to deliver a family funday to bring young people and families from the local Irish community and the community more broadly together.
Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded almost £3 million to projects which have explored the history of the Irish diaspora in England, covering themes such as the World Wars, aspects of culture shared with others, and the experiences of those who have built their lives here in the UK.
‘Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain’ is an ambitious heritage project which captures the history of the Irish in Britain’s membership organisations and the communities they serve, and is currently touring. This exhibition was made possible with a £250,000 Lottery grant.

The question and answer on the Parliament website.

More on Sir John Whittingdale.

Receipt

Read fromhttps://questions-statements-api.parliament.uk/api/writtenquestions/questions/1670049?expandMember=true
Date read15 October 2026
SHA-2565095c76f37f2878eb3585c7904304fd52a08fadb5384058d272ec9c92635c8cd