Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address fungi being a notified feature in 0.3 per cent of SSSIs in England; and whether they will commit the necessary resources for new sites already on Natural England’s SSSI pipeline to be so notified.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

While only a small proportion of existing sites currently have fungi recorded as monitored features, Natural England (NE) continues to improve consistency in how all features are identified and assessed.

As around 8% of England has been designated as SSSI over the past 40 years, NE considers that most suitable areas have already been notified, though further cases may arise as evidence improves and environmental conditions change.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to update their definition of polypropylene to allow non-black polypropylene plant pots to be classed as green under the Recyclability assessment methodology: assessing materials, updated on 4 September 2025.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

PackUK has received feedback highlighting ongoing challenges with stable market demand, collection, sorting performance, and recyclability for coloured rigid polypropylene. The Recyclability Assessment Methodology is reviewed and updated annually. Officials are currently seeking advice on this issue from the independent RAM Technical Advisory Committee to inform the next iteration of the RAM (2027), due to be published in July 2026.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what penalties will be imposed on local authorities that do not comply with Simpler Recycling requirements; and when and how they plan to report on rates of compliance.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Public authorities (such as waste collection authorities) are expected to comply with their statutory duties. If they do not comply, they are at risk of judicial review. However, local authorities are independent bodies and are accountable to their electorate rather than to Ministers or Government departments.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect waxcap grasslands; and what steps they have taken toward creating a waxcap grassland habitat of principal importance.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Natural England is undertaking work to map waxcap grasslands and to understand their conservation status. In addition, Natural England is currently reviewing priority habitats, and the potential inclusion of waxcap grasslands within these habitats is being considered as part of the review. Under the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme, waxcap grasslands can be identified as a target feature for funding to prevent agricultural improvement or conversion that may threaten these grasslands.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 26 November 2025 (HL11789), what steps they have taken to communicate the ambition of the International Fungal Conservation Pledge and ensure national alignment with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs' national team, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and devolved government agencies.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Further to those actions set out in our response to PQ UIN HL11789, in September 2025 Defra participated in the launch of the UK Network for Fungal Conservation. The network, which currently includes Defra, NE, JNCC, NIEA and DAERA membership, brings together representatives from statutory bodies, research institutes, conservation NGOs and other fungal conservation professionals to work on fungal conservation across the UK. During the first quarter of 2026, the network will work on a collaborative new strategy and delivery plan for fungal conservation in the UK, enabling its integration with the new global strategy for fungal conservation.

Additionally, and in line with the UK’s commitment to the International Fungal Conservation Pledge, the UK led a proposal at CoP20 (December 2025) to develop a programme of work on how CITES should be applied to fungi in practice. This proposal was adopted by the Parties.