There are some changes in the practice of allocating expenditure between different sub-heads and these changes are noted in footnotes where relevant. But the expenditure series are not plagued by the recurrent minor discontinuities that affect the numbers series. The figures for ‘average weekly dole’ were obtained by dividing out relief expenditure by the average load of outdoor paupers. The money that the poor law authorities spent had first to be raised by taxation. Total rateable value shows the tax base of the institution. Thus total cost and expenditure per head of population were critically scrutinised in nearly all official and unofficial discussion. The subtotals and the detailed distribution of relief expenditure received less attention. From 1920 expenditure statistics were published in the Annual Local Taxation Returns, where costs of maintenance in institutions controlled by poor law and non-poor law authorities are given separately.