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In November 1944 the average annual cost to the nation of each member of the Home Guard over the previous three years was officially stated as being £9 (about £290 in 2008 money).

This remarkably low figure was contained in a report to Parliament by the Select Committee for National Expenditure. The Committee also found that the force had been economically administered and that the decision to administer it through the Territorial Army Association had been a wise one. It published at the same time detailed figures for estimated Home Guard expenditure in the current year, 1944-1945, as follows.

     Cost of the Home Guard for the current financial year:  £16,600,000
     Capital value of stores, clothing and equipment held
     by the Home Guard:                                                      £60,854,000
     Home Guard strength:   1,800,000 men

DETAILED EXPENDITURE
(excluding the cost of certain services provided by the War Department)

 -Staff (War Office, Commands and lower formations)             £170,000
 -Schools, travelling instructors, permanent staff,
   training officers etc.                                                          £2,200,000
 -Grants to Territorial Associations (Capitation for T.A.A.
   administration costs and minor works)                               £3,400,000
 -Training grant to Commands                                                 £165,000
 -Subsistence                                                                       £1,600,000
 -Travelling expenses and allowances                                     £1,300,000
 -Transport (local hire by T.A.A)                                             £400,000
 -Compensation for loss of earnings                                           £45,000
 -Disability payments                                                              £120,000
 -Clothing, personal equipment, general stores                        £2,700,000
 -Practice ammunition, maintenance of war-like stores            £4,500,000
                                                                                          _________

                                        Total                                         £16,600,000

(Multiply by about x32 for 2008 £ equivalents)

NOTES
- The capitation grant received by the Territorial Army Association to cover administration costs was based on 39s. 6d. (£1.98) a head for the first 1500 members of an association and 33s. 6d. (£1.68) for the remainder.
- Travelling expenses, which the Committee felt might appear large, covered the expenses of all ranks when travelling on duty whether by public transport or in their own cars.
- The Committee concluded that the Home Guard had been "efficiently but not extravagantly armed".
- The allocation for shot-guns was £300,000; it was suggested that since these weapons were urgently required by farmers and others, they might either be returned to their owners or put on the market at a controlled price.
- The Committee recommended that civilian accommodation requisitioned for the Home Guard should now be returned to its owners immediately but that T.A.A. standing camps and magazines should be retained for postwar use wherever possible.

(Source: The Times - 23rd November 1944)