Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people are working on Task Force Hirst; who the taskforce consists of; and from which Government departments.

As part of the UK’s overall support to Ukraine, Task Force HIRST is a cross-Government team working on accelerating, developing and deepening UK defence industrial capacity and capability and UK/Ukrainian defence industrial cooperation.

Led by a 2* Major General, alongside her other duties, the team is structured on a matrix model to draw on skills and experience as required from across Government. Subject Matter Experts are drawn in from the Ministry of Defence and other Departments as required.