diff --git a/Framework/Algorithms/inc/MantidAlgorithms/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.h b/Framework/Algorithms/inc/MantidAlgorithms/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.h
index a47698e915fb..90d71115ebcb 100644
--- a/Framework/Algorithms/inc/MantidAlgorithms/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.h
+++ b/Framework/Algorithms/inc/MantidAlgorithms/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.h
@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@ namespace PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers {
 MANTID_ALGORITHMS_DLL API::MatrixWorkspace_sptr workspaceForSpinState(API::WorkspaceGroup_sptr group,
                                                                       const std::string &spinStateOrder,
                                                                       const std::string &targetSpinState);
-MANTID_ALGORITHMS_DLL size_t indexOfWorkspaceForSpinState(API::WorkspaceGroup_sptr group,
-                                                          const std::string &spinStateOrder,
+MANTID_ALGORITHMS_DLL size_t indexOfWorkspaceForSpinState(const std::string &spinStateOrder,
                                                           const std::string &targetSpinState);
 MANTID_ALGORITHMS_DLL std::vector<std::string> splitSpinStateString(const std::string &spinStates);
 } // namespace PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers
diff --git a/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/HeliumAnalyserEfficiency.cpp b/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/HeliumAnalyserEfficiency.cpp
index df8a3235687e..13f9e4f08fcc 100644
--- a/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/HeliumAnalyserEfficiency.cpp
+++ b/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/HeliumAnalyserEfficiency.cpp
@@ -54,8 +54,7 @@ void HeliumAnalyserEfficiency::init() {
                   "Helium analyzer efficiency as a function of wavelength");
 
   auto spinValidator = std::make_shared<SpinStateValidator>(std::unordered_set<int>{4});
-  std::string initialSpinConfig = "11,10,01,00";
-  declareProperty(PropertyNames::SPIN_STATES, initialSpinConfig, spinValidator,
+  declareProperty(PropertyNames::SPIN_STATES, "11,10,01,00", spinValidator,
                   "Order of individual spin states in the input group workspace, e.g. \"01,11,00,10\"");
 
   auto mustBePositive = std::make_shared<BoundedValidator<double>>();
@@ -112,8 +111,9 @@ std::map<std::string, std::string> HeliumAnalyserEfficiency::validateInputs() {
  */
 void HeliumAnalyserEfficiency::validateGroupInput() {
   const auto results = validateInputs();
-  for (const auto &result : results) {
-    throw std::runtime_error("Issue in " + result.first + " property: " + result.second);
+  if (results.size() > 0) {
+    const auto result = results.cbegin();
+    throw std::runtime_error("Issue in " + result->first + " property: " + result->second);
   }
 }
 
@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ void HeliumAnalyserEfficiency::calculateAnalyserEfficiency() {
   // We're going to calculate e from the data, e = T_NSF / (T_NSF + T_SF),
   // then fit (1 + tanh(mu * phe))/2 to it in order to calculate phe, the
   // helium atom polarization in the analyser.
-  MatrixWorkspace_sptr denom = addTwoWorkspaces(tnsfWs, tsfWs);
-  MatrixWorkspace_sptr e = divideWorkspace(tnsfWs, denom);
+  MatrixWorkspace_sptr denom = addTwoWorkspaces(tnsfWs, std::move(tsfWs));
+  MatrixWorkspace_sptr e = divideWorkspace(std::move(tnsfWs), std::move(denom));
 
   // Now we fit (1 + tanh(mu*pHe*x))/2 to P to give us pHe
 
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ void HeliumAnalyserEfficiency::calculateAnalyserEfficiency() {
   const MantidVec wavelengthValues = e->dataX(0);
   double pHe, pHeError;
   MantidVec eCalc;
-  fitAnalyserEfficiency(mu, e, wavelengthValues, pHe, pHeError, eCalc);
+  fitAnalyserEfficiency(mu, std::move(e), wavelengthValues, pHe, pHeError, eCalc);
   auto efficiency = calculateEfficiencyWorkspace(wavelengthValues, eCalc, pHe, pHeError, mu);
   setProperty(PropertyNames::OUTPUT_WORKSPACE, efficiency);
 }
diff --git a/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.cpp b/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.cpp
index 27131b84825d..3c61e1ba6d65 100644
--- a/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.cpp
+++ b/Framework/Algorithms/src/PolarizationCorrections/PolarizationCorrectionsHelpers.cpp
@@ -19,17 +19,16 @@ state in the spin state order as the index of the workspace in the group.
 */
 API::MatrixWorkspace_sptr workspaceForSpinState(API::WorkspaceGroup_sptr group, const std::string &spinStateOrder,
                                                 const std::string &targetSpinState) {
-  const auto wsIndex = indexOfWorkspaceForSpinState(group, spinStateOrder, targetSpinState);
+  const auto wsIndex = indexOfWorkspaceForSpinState(spinStateOrder, targetSpinState);
   return std::dynamic_pointer_cast<API::MatrixWorkspace>(group->getItem(wsIndex));
 }
 
 /*
 For a given workspace group, spin state order, and desired spin state, this method will
-return the index of the specified workspace from the group, using the position of the desired spin
+return the index of the specified workspace in the group, using the position of the desired spin
 state in the spin state order.
 */
-size_t indexOfWorkspaceForSpinState(API::WorkspaceGroup_sptr group, const std::string &spinStateOrder,
-                                    const std::string &targetSpinState) {
+size_t indexOfWorkspaceForSpinState(const std::string &spinStateOrder, const std::string &targetSpinState) {
   std::vector<std::string> spinStateVector = splitSpinStateString(spinStateOrder);
   auto trimmedTargetSpinState = targetSpinState;
   boost::trim(trimmedTargetSpinState);