File On 4

Gerry Northam investigates the Colonial Development Corporation.

Michael Robinson investigates the US lawsuits emanating from the global financial crisis.

Britain has the second worst respiratory death rates in Europe and has long been under notice from Brussels to clean up its act. So why are most UK areas in breach of legal limits?

And do ministers have any clear plan to reduce the huge annual total of resulting deaths?

Julian O'Halloran investigates.

Producer : Rob Cave.

Is enough being done to combat diesel pollution which is blamed for thousands of deaths?

Award-winning current affairs documentary series

Award-winning current affairs documentary series

A local steel plant near Motherwell lost out as part of a consortium bidding for the work. It says the contract could have secured hundreds of local jobs.

Officials insist that they have to follow EU rules which state that any company across the single market can bid for public contracts. But analysts complain that UK authorities interpret these rules more narrowly than their European counterparts, to the detriment of British firms. French public spending goes outside France at only half the rate that British contracts go abroad.

With the economy struggling, the Government has pledged support for British business but accepts that public projects are too often awarded in a way that disadvantages domestic companies. So can it take action to support UK jobs without being accused of protectionism?

Reporter: Gerry Northam

Producer: Gail Champion.

Why do so many British public sector contracts go to foreign companies?

News reports around the time of the Sellafield scandal claimed that organs of coal miners were also being routinely removed during post-mortems at the request of the then National Coal Board.

So, was the coal industry involved in a similar scandal - and to what extent? And could the need to advance research and science ever be seen to outweigh the need for permission?

Reporter and producer: Emma Forde

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Editor: Clare Fordham

~File On 4 investigates how organs from coal miners were used for historic research.

Emma Forde examines the historic use of coal miners' organs in research and investigates what permissions were sought.

Risk of prosecution has now created a climate of fear in many aid agencies - and the UN wants counter-terrorism policies redrawn to ensure lives can be saved without charity workers risking jail.

Tim Whewell reports from Gaza - and talks to aid workers operating in Syria, Somalia and other places - on the practical and moral dilemmas involved.

Producer: Paul Grant.

The dilemmas faced by charities trying to help people in areas run by militant groups.

Fentanyl addiction has swept across North America where the drug and other synthetic opioids have been blamed for thousands of deaths. It hit the headlines here when it was linked to a spike in fatalities in certain parts of the UK after being mixed with heroin.

Allan Urry travels to Stockton on Tees where ten deaths have been linked to Fentanyl and its derivatives. He meets users and their families and the medical professionals and police dealing with the problem.

But while Fentanyl is currently in the spotlight, it is tranquilisers and other sedatives often used by heroin users to dull withdrawal symptoms which are contributing to many more deaths. Nowhere is the problem more acute than in Scotland where benzodiazepines contributed to nearly half of all drug deaths.

Many of the pills known as 'street valium' or 'blues' are made in back street laboratories run by organised crime gangs. Users gamble with their lives as the ingredients and strength of the tablets are often unknown.

But File on 4 has discovered that organised crime gangs have also become involved in diverting significant numbers of highly addictive medicines from the legitimate supply chain onto the black market.

Regulators say there is an extensive network of criminality involving businesses such as wholesale dealers and registered pharmacies. Some in the pharmaceutical industry such as drug manufacturers are repeating calls for supply chain regulation to be reviewed to ensure medicines reach their intended target.

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion.

As deaths involving prescription drugs increase, who is supplying demand on the streets?

More prisoners are dying in jail - even after you account for the growing - and ageing -prison population. Many of those found to be so-called ‘natural cause deaths' are relatively young: more than a third are aged between 35 and 54.

Those who've been behind bars a short time are at greatest ris

Reporter: De-Graft Mensah

Producers: Shona Elliott and Tom Wall

Senior Digital Journalist: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Technical Producer: Gareth Jones

Editor: Carl Johnston

Children who are excluded from school are being targetted by gangs to sell drugs

Since that programme, dozens have had their convictions overturned, and the Post Office has pledged to provide ‘full, fair and final' compensation to those affected, at the cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to the taxpayer. In this episode, Hayley Hassall revisits the victims she spoke to in 2020 who say they are still fighting for justice - and investigates what the Post Office really knew as this scandal unfolded, as it ruthlessly pursued and prosecuted its very own workers.

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Maggie Latham

~File On 4 investigates what the Post Office really knew during the sub-postmaster scandal.

As winter sets in, Phil Kemp heads to Greece in search of the teenagers who have arrived alone from Syria and Afghanistan, living by their wits on the streets of Athens.

The controversial deal struck between the EU and Turkey to return migrants who don't claim asylum or who have their claims rejected - and the closing of borders with Greece - has been blamed for making the situation worse for many migrants who now find themselves in limbo in Greece. The millions pledged by the EU don't seem to be bringing relief on the ground either.

The programme hears from the lucky ones who have found spaces at shelters for unaccompanied children in Greece's capital. Here they are fed, clothed and supported in their legal cases.

Others, on the island of Samos, are celebrating securing asylum in Greece. But most children on the island are not celebrating. They feel stuck in a system that cannot cope and held in a country that was meant to be a transit point, not a place to stay.

Increasingly the locals in Samos don't want them to say either. Tensions are flaring in the area around the vastly overcrowded camp, with Golden Dawn active nearby. Around 3,000 residents turned out to protest about their sense of abandonment by the Greek government and the EU. Local officials describe the island as 'trembling on a bridge above troubled water.

With an estimated 2300 unaccompanied migrant children in Greece, more than half of whom are on the waiting list for shelter, File on 4 asks whether the EU is doing enough to care for those most in need of protection.

Reporter: Phil Kemp

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Editor: Gail Champion.

The plight of unaccompanied child migrants arriving in Greece. Is the EU doing enough?

Reporter Jane Deith

Producer Ian Muir-Cochrane.

What do we know about the deals struck with private companies to run parts of the NHS?

The working party will look at concerns that assessment and diagnosis of patients is not consistent across the country and will ask whether the cost of long term care is affordable to the NHS.

Ann Alexander examines calls for a reform of the process to end the life of such patients where their families believe their loved one would no longer wish to be alive.

The programme reveals how some hospitals appear unaware of the law and hears how the process can be lengthy and costly, putting families under further strain.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Should it be made simpler to end the life of patients in a vegetative state?

~File On 4 goes digging through Britain's multi-million pound recycling industry - and discovers it's a dirty business.

The UK sends more than half its recyclable packaging overseas, selling our sorted plastics and paper to countries which need the raw material and will recycle it. But when File on 4 tracks where shipments are being sent - we discover they can have a devastating effect on the developing communities where they end up.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Mick Tucker

Development Producer: Oliver Newlan

Researcher: Deniz Kose

Editor: Gail Champion

Failures in the way recycling is set up in the UK is contributing to pollution in our seas

Many of them still have financial deficits. Taxpayers have been forced to pick up bills to pay off those shortfalls and already hard-pressed local services have been stretched further.

Lesley Curwen investigates how these individual funds are run and asks whether we should have larger funds with cheaper costs - like Canada does. And she asks whether more councils should be using pension money to invest in housing and infrastructure as a way to boost their local economies?

Producer: Anna Meisel Reporter: Lesley Curwen.

Have UK taxpayers been paying over the odds to prop up council pension funds?

So campaigners argue that when a patient commits suicide, it is vital that a thorough investigation should discover any failings by doctors and nurses and any weaknesses in hospital systems of communication or levels of staffing.

But, unlike deaths in prison or police custody, fatalities in psychiatric units are not reviewed from the start by a fully independent investigator. Initial reports are usually prepared by staff of the NHS and kept confidential to the health officials and family concerned. Only at the subsequent inquest does an independent inquiry take over.

Critics call this 'a recipe for cover-up by the NHS'.

~File On 4 reports on a series of suicides in one psychiatric unit which have led the local coroner to accuse the NHS of 'a catalogue of failures stemming from an institutional complacency'.

Reporter - Gerry Northam

Producer - Gail Champion.

Are psychiatric hospitals failing to learn vital lessons from suicides among patients?

It provides mental health and community services to patients. Some of whom say there are serious problems at the trust. Some say they don't feel safe on wards, there have been a series of suicides and now there are serious new allegations emerging.

The trust says safety is its top priority and its making progress and improving.

But the programme hears from patients and their families who feel they are being let down.

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Gail Champion

Assistance for Patients:

The Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust has set up a helpline for any patients or concerned families. The number is is 01268-739182. It will be available from 8pm on Tuesday 20 March 2018.

There are also other organisations which can assist via the BBC Actionline:

Addiction:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1kS7QTDB16PWkywhsXJLzxz/information-and-support-addiction-alcohol-drugs-and-gambling

Emotional distress / suicide:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/emotional-distress-information-and-support

Mental health:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health

Sexual abuse:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support.

An investigation into standards in an NHS trust providing mental health care.

Reporter: Katie Barnfield

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 investigates what led two 15-year-olds to kill teenager Brianna Ghey

~File On 4 tells the story behind the killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.

~File On 4 investigates what led two 15-year-olds to kill teenager Brianna Ghey in broad daylight.

This month George Osborne said he plans to make Britain the most attractive corporate tax regime in the G20. But some companies have already moved abroad for tax reasons. And for others able to operate on a global scale, there are many ways for them to reduce their tax liability. So how does the Government square the tax circle?

Producer: Gail Champion.

Michael Robinson reveals loopholes which let big businesses slash their UK tax bills.

Jane Deith talks to the medics who fought the first wave of Covid-19 in England's ICUs.

Following the fall of the country and the frantic evacuation, the UK Government made a series of promises not to leave behind those who'd helped the UK.

The programme investigates the failures of these schemes, which have seen tiny numbers getting to safety in the UK. Thousands more left living in fear, facing torture and kidnap have been left languishing for months without contact or support.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Kate West and Vicky Carter

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

Thousands abandoned in Afghanistan despite being promised help by the UK.

Abandoned to their fate - are teenagers being pushed out of the care system too quickly?

~File On 4 tells one family's story of fighting the authorities to get support and justice after a 13 year old boy was aggressively groomed by scores of men, aged from their 20s to their 50s. It is a shocking story of opportunities missed, meaning the boy endured assaults by multiple men for years. We look at the impact of that sustained abuse on him and his parents, who were desperately trying to shield him from harm. He says he was dismissed, and even blamed by authorities responsible for protecting him.

Why were they so let down? And have the police been slow to get to grips with cases of child sexual exploitation when they involve boys?

One safeguarding expert tells the programme: 'Policy is not matching practice on the ground. It was completely missed that this boy was a child. We need to lift the lid on what is going on when the victims are boys.

Are boys on the radar of authorities or are they grooming's hidden victims?

Reporter: Alys Harte

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Are teenage boys let down by the system when they report being targeted by paedophiles?

Reporter: Anna Adams

Producer: Kate West & Mick Tucker

Editor: Gail Champion

Are police forces letting down victims of crime when those accused are their own officers?

But, more than a decade on, the problem hasn't gone away and this edition of File on 4 reveals new figures which show how many allegations of sexual and physical abuse were made across most major sports last year.

The programme also examines concerns about the way information about coaches who have disciplined or banned, is shared with parents and other sports bodies, primarily because of data protection laws. It reveals how some coaches accused of sexual misconduct are able to move between sporting organisations and carry on coaching

Reporter Chris Buckler also hears calls from families and child welfare charities for a change in the law to make it illegal for coaches to have a sex with athletes aged 16 or 17 which would bring them in line with teachers and others who have close contact with young people

Presenter: Chris Buckler

Producer: Paul Grant.

Is sport doing enough to tackle the sexual abuse of athletes? Chris Buckler investigates.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Victims of sexual abuse at Knowl View school in Rochdale tell their side of the story.

Reporter: Livvy Haydock

Producer: Helen Clifton

Editor: Carl Johnston

Bullying and sexual abuse and harassment in the film and television industry.

But what happens when the challenges the adoptive family faces become overwhelming? And is there enough support available to the families who give a home to some of the most vulnerable children in society?

~File On 4 hears from adoptive parents struggling to cope with their children's complex problems - and battling with the authorities to get the help they desperately need.

The charity Adoption UK thinks as many as a quarter of all adoptive families are in crisis and in need of professional help to keep their family together. But are adoptive parents given enough information about the challenges they are likely to face and when they do encounter problems, is there enough help available?

Two years ago, the government set up a special fund designed to help adoptive families in England access a range of post-adoption therapeutic services. To date, more than £52 million has been spent via the Adoption Support Fund. But where is the money going and are the treatments on offer proven to be effective?

The truth is that no one really knows how many adoptions are 'disrupted' or end up in full break down when the child is permanently returned to care. But when they do, it is devastating for everyone involved. We speak to families fighting to get the help they need to stay together.

Reporter: Alys Harte

Producer: Jane Drinkwater.

Is there enough support available to struggling adoptive families?

Two cases are being brought by a group called Students for Fair Admissions challenging the way race is considered in the admissions process at Harvard and North Carolina Universities.

The case against Harvard specifically alleges discrimination against Asian Americans, which the prestigious college denies. But affirmative action is divisive and means different things to Americans.

Nomia Iqbal speaks to Edward Blum, the man bringing the case to court, and to students on either side of the debate.

Is the policy a helping hand, or an unfair handout?

US affirmative action under scrutiny.

Since 2002, the USA has spent $27bn - over half of its total reconstruction fund - training and equipping Afghan forces. The aim is to build up an army of 171,600 people and a police force of 134,000 by October 2011.

The Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants national forces to be in complete control of the country by 2014.

But these targets, and the loyalty of some personnel, are called into question by recent killings carried out by members of the Afghan security forces:

*20 July 2010: two US weapons trainers were shot dead by an Afghan soldier

*13 July 2010: three British soldiers were attacked by an Afghan soldier who shot one dead in his bed and fired a rocket-propelled grenade which killed two others

*3 November 2009: three British soldiers and two members of the Royal Military Police were shot dead by an Afghan policeman.

An investigation published in June 2010 by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found that officials had often overstated the readiness of Afghan forces, rating some units as first class when they were incapable of fighting the Taliban on their own. It also reported high levels of desertion, corruption and drug abuse.

Gerry Northam asks if the transition to Afghan control is really on track.

Producer: David Lewis Editor: David Ross.

Can Afghan forces guarantee the country's security when British and other troops pull out?

Delays to insurance claims and businesses struggling to get back to work are some of the everyday tasks facing the village. But with many not expected to return to their homes for many months, will the close knit community of Fishlake village ever recover?

Reporter: Anna Cavell

Producer: Rob Cave

Editor: Carl Johnston

What happens to those families hit by devastating floods when the waters recede?

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Rob Cave.

Could York learn from its Dutch counterpart about flood protection?

Producer Jenny Chryss.

When a plane crashes, does the investigation always get to the real reasons?

Julian O'Halloran asks how one operator BAA, justifies its grip on no fewer than half a dozen British airports? And questions whether government and regulators need to take more control over the industry in order to prevent further damage to Britain's image abroad..

Producer : Samantha Fenwick.

Why were flights grounded by snow? Do Britain's airport woes run deeper than bad weather?

~File On 4 travels across Albania to discover the truth behind the biggest migration controversy to hit Britain for years, visiting towns where most young men have already left and the rest are planning to leave as soon as possible.

In Has, a small town in Northern Albania, 80 per cent of families rely on funds being sent back by relatives living in the UK. A red phone box can be found outside a pub called Britain Lounge - a mark of respect to the country providing work to the majority of the town's youth.

While in neighbouring Kukes, men who've made their fortune and returned home, drive around the city in cars with GB number plates.

With wages low and youth unemployment high, File on 4 hears from young people who say there are no prospects for them in their home country.

They're lured to the promised lands of England by slick social media campaigns led by people smugglers and by Albanians who show off their wealth online.

But the exodus of skilled workers and the country's labour force is having a huge impact on the population of Albania, which has still yet to fully recover from its brutalist communist rule.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producers: Hayley Mortimer and Fjori Sinoruka in Albania, Kate West and Annabel Deas

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Editor: Carl Johnston

Paul Kenyon investigates why so many young Albanians want to travel illegally to the UK.

Presenter: Allan Urry

Producer: Paul Grant.

Alcohol smuggling is costing more than a billion pounds in lost taxes. Allan Urry reports.

After questions were raised in the summer about slave wages and unsafe working practices, File on 4 has now found a network of companies involved in a cash laundering scheme.

Insiders say VAT fraud is endemic among garment suppliers within the city and there are concerns that millions in tax revenue are being lost each year.

So how does it operate and why isn't more being done to prevent fraud within the fast-fashion supply chain?

Reporters: Paul Kenyon and Ashni Lakhani

Producer: Oliver Newlan

Editor: Gail Champion

An investigation into VAT fraud within Leicester's garment manufacturing industry.

Reporter: Rachel Stonehouse

Producer: Michael Cowan

Editor: Maggie Latham

Researcher: Natasha Fernandes

How do you know if you've been recruited by a cult? Rachel Stonehouse investigates.

Presenter: Allan Urry

Producer: Samantha Fenwick.

Allan Urry examines claims of a crisis in hospital accident and emergency services.

~File On 4 hears from Britons jailed for hiding people in their cars. They reveal why - and how - they did it.

They were paid to smuggle people across the Channel by gangs based in London and the North West.

This unofficial migrant taxi service - run from camps in Calais and Dunkirk - is believed to be netting criminal networks millions of pounds a year.

But even that is dwarfed by the money to be made by British criminals bringing migrants over by the lorry load. Jane Deith reveals how the trade is spreading along the coast of Northern Europe, to Belgium and Holland. And she hears from Europol's Chief of Staff about the extent to which criminal networks based in Britain are involved in people smuggling. He tells the programme that more than 800 people have been identified as suspects.

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Paul Grant.

British people smugglers: inside the trade in bringing illegal immigrants into the UK.

Mr Clarke points to a metal factory in a Merseyside prison where prisoners work a 40 hour week and learn skills which could make them more employable on release. He argues that this will also make then less likely to return to crime.

But is this plan practicable?

Prison Governors say that two-thirds of their inmates were unemployed before they started their sentences and that they are generally reluctant to engage in meaningful work. They say many of them can hardly read and write.

Governors also fear that moving jobs inside prison would mean taking opportunities away from law-abiding job-seekers outside. And they complain that it would prove costly in terms of staff time.

One prison reform group which set up a pioneering graphic design studio inside prison says the project was popular and effective among prisoners but was forced to close following hostility and obstruction from officers.

Gerry Northam asks if the government is overstating the possible advantages of its policy, and investigates whether it can be made to succeed at a time when the Ministry of Justice faces funding cuts.

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Should more prisoners be made to work? And are government plans to make them realistic?

The killings made national headlines in 1993 when two MOT inspectors, Alan Singleton and Simon Bruno, were shot dead at a garage in Stockport, in Greater Manchester.

The evidence produced in court against Bourke seemed compelling. Two mechanics at the garage said they had seen him carry out the shooting which the prosecution claimed was motivated by a dispute about his licence to carry out MOT tests.

As the jury began their deliberations, a gun was found inside Strangeways prison where Bourke was on remand. Amid subsequent heightened security around the court, he was found guilty and given a minimum 25 year sentence. But protesting his innocence all these years means that he may never be eligible for parole so could remain in prison for the rest of his life.

His sister Jo has been tirelessly fighting his case. A chiropodist with no connections to criminals, she began visiting notorious drug dealers and suspected killers to try to gather new evidence that would help clear his name.

Through the work of Jo and other campaigners, Bourke's case is now back with the Criminal Cases Review Commission which they hope will lead to an appeal.

So has Thomas Bourke been the victim of a shocking miscarriage of justice? Simon Cox investigates.

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Thomas Bourke has served more than 20 years for murder, but is his conviction safe?

It starts with a phone call. Cynthia Tuck, a retired nurse and widow in her 80's, is charmed by a man offering her the chance to help put her grandchildren through university. All it would take is a small initial investment. Fast forward three years and Mrs Tuck has lost her entire life savings - hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Three years on, in 2019, her fight for justice has hit a dead end. No charges. No trial. Everyone involved still at large. What went wrong? And why is the system failing millions of fraud victims like Cynthia Tuck?

Reporter: Dan Whitworth

Producer: Simon Maybin

Editor: Hugh Levinson

Just before the General Election, Parliament approved a new Bribery law. And in recent months the Serious Fraud Office has adopted a new strategy, prosecuting a string of British-based firms and managers who have pleaded guilty to corrupt practices abroad. It seemed that prosecutors were finally beginning to get results.

But now English judges are objecting to the American-style plea bargains which have encouraged guilty companies to confess to past illegality. One senior judge has warned prosecutors they have no power to strike such deals, which tend to offer a more lenient sentence in return for an admission of guilt. And in another case, an executive who cooperated with prosecutors has been sentenced to a year in prison for helping to bribe officials in the Greek health service to buy his company's medical equipment.

In the first of a new series of 'File on 4', Allan Urry investigates bribery by British firms abroad, and serious disarray in the court system which should be bringing them to justice.

Producer: Andy Denwood.

Is Britain's drive to curb bribery and corruption working? Allan Urry investigates.

Producer: Gail Champion

Editor: David Ross.

Allan Urry investigates UK connections to the illegal weapons trade in conflict zones.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Fergus Hewison

Editor: Carl Johnston

Artificial intelligence: are the criminals one step ahead? File on 4 investigates.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, makes it possible for machines to learn. But are criminals already ahead of the curve when it comes to AI? File on 4 investigates.

The programme reveals how the industry is largely unregulated - with no licensing of practitioners. It means anyone, even without qualifications or with a criminal conviction, could practice as a massage therapist.

Sexual assault victims and professional bodies in the sector are calling for more regulation to be introduced to protect both clients and therapists from sexual violence and harm.

Reporter: Hannah Price

Producers: Paul Grant and Eleanor Layhe

Editor: Carl Johnston

Calls for the massage industry to be regulated after sexual assaults by therapists.

The money, they say, was stolen from their people and is needed to rebuild shattered economies.

In 'File on 4' Jenny Cuffe reports on the Arab nations' mounting impatience at the lengthy and costly process of investigation demanded to prove that assets were illicitly obtained by the now deposed leaders, their families and associates.

Already Egypt has gone to court to demand more information from the British Treasury about where their lost billions are stashed.

And campaigners in Tunisia - the first of the Arab Spring nations - complain Britain is dragging its feet. They contrast slow progress in London with a more helpful response from the country once renowned as the most impenetrable of banking fortresses: Switzerland.

Producer: Andy Denwood

Presenter: Jenny Cuffe.

Are stolen Arab billions still locked in British banks? Jenny Cuffe reports.

Recent stories of asylum seekers living in fancy hotels have led to outraged newspaper headlines but are they a symptom of bigger failings in the UK's system for housing those who come here seeking refuge?

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Matt Precey.

With rising numbers of asylum seekers, are some UK communities struggling to cope?

More than 2,200 homes are spread across the country providing young people the opportunity to get their lives back on track.

For many, a residential home provides much needed stability and care when there had previously been none, and a vital opportunity to experience a settled childhood.

But with pressure on the children's social care sector mounting, File on 4 investigates whether some homes are failing to give young people the second chance they need. New research suggests concerning levels of police involvement in the lives of care home residents, and growing concerns about children absconding. Where do they go, and who's looking out for them?

As young people in residential care are particularly susceptible to grooming for sexual abuse and county lines activity, how can care home staff prevent predators from gaining access to them - and when a child is intent on absconding, what options do staff have to keep them safe?

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit: Sam Thomas\Getty

Where do they go? Why vulnerable young people are going missing from children's homes.

The brutality of the terror group is now well known, partly due to their own publicity online. Videos and stories of beheadings, floggings and sex slaves have been released to the public, drawing in a new wave of foreign fighters.

IS has since had setbacks, losing ground in it's strongholds in Iraq and Syria and its administrative capital Raqqa. But the caliphate has not admitted defeat, instead promising more attacks in the West.

It's thought 50% of UK citizens who left to join IS, have now returned home- the rest are dead, detained or missing. What happens to these returnees when they come back? With only a minority being prosecuted and imprisoned, what efforts are being made to de-radicalise the rest?

This investigation explores the danger posed by UK returnees, the efforts to de-radicalise and reintegrate them and the difficulties of proving they were ever part of the caliphate once they've returned home.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Kate West

Editor: Gail Champion.

What risks do returning jihadis from IS in Iraq and Syria pose in the UK?

Reporter: Mark Lobel

Producers: Phil Marzouk

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 investigates bad behaviour in the bailiff industry.

Councils are increasingly using bailiffs to recover debts on behalf of local authorities. Mark Lobel speaks to those working in the industry about their tactics.

With the continuing cost of living crisis meaning more and more people are falling into debt, File on 4 uncovers the rising use of bailiffs by councils, and the bad behaviour that continues to blight the industry. Mark Lobel speaks to those at the forefront of industry reform, those who have fallen into debt and working bailiffs willing to go on the record about the ills of their industry and the bad behaviour of their colleagues.

~File On 4 tells the story behind the killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.

Producer: Phil Marzouk

Producer: Fergus Hewison

Producer: Megan Jones

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Technical Producer: Matthew Dempsey

Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley

Editor: Clare Fordham

Why is Europe's largest local authority facing financial meltdown?

Europe's largest local authority is facing financial meltdown. For File on 4, Adrian Goldberg investigates what's brought Birmingham to its knees.

The 2015 Modern Slavery Act gave prosecutors more options to pursue offenders, it handed judges the ability to dole out life sentences and promised more protection for victims. But in the clamour to tackle modern slavery, has the plight of overseas domestic workers, who toil in the homes of wealthy overseas visitors as nannies, cooks and cleaners, been forgotten?

This summer File on 4 followed migrant domestic workers as they escaped abusive employers in the dead of night. Through their stories, the programme questions whether recent measures go far enough to adequately protect an invisible workforce who've been tricked and trapped into a life of exploitation.

Reporter: Phillip Kemp

Producers: Sarah Shebbeare & Ben Robinson.

Are foreign domestic workers the forgotten victims of modern slavery in Britain?

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Benefit sanctions are aimed at shirkers, but is the system also penalising the vulnerable?

How was a police sergeant able to live a double life as a respected bobby and as the leader of a ruthless underworld crime gang, dealing drugs, laundering money, and intimidating witnesses?

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Are police doing enough to tackle corruption in their ranks? Allan Urry investigates.

Are they bad cops with an axe to grind or victims of corrupt practices and institutional cover up?

Producers: Sally Chesworth and Neil Morrow.

Allan Urry investigates claims of dirty tricks in one of Britain's biggest police forces.

But there are many more high rise residential buildings covered in other types of cladding which are also flammable and not covered by the bailout.

One of the most widely used is High Pressure Laminate or HPL which is currently undergoing fire safety tests ordered by the government. Some experts say the cladding is very likely to fail the test.

~File On 4 speaks to the families facing bills of more than 20 thousand pounds to remove HPL cladding and make their homes safe. They live in fear of a fire breaking out and since the hazard is no fault of their own, they believe the developers, the building owners or the Government should pay the cost of putting it right.

Public buildings, such as hospitals, are also having to pay to remove dangerous cladding. Eight hospitals had the same Aluminium Composite Material or ACM cladding as Grenfell tower. Only one has completed the work, while others are still taking it down or have closed wards while they decide how to deal with the problem.

The programme hears concerns that the disruption could have compromised patient safety.

Reporter: Melanie Abbott

Producer: Paul Grant

The families and hospitals facing huge bills to replace dangerous cladding.

In the UK there are more than 300 laboratories working on the second highest danger level organisms such as tuberculosis. In 10 of them, they work at the highest risk level on viruses like ebola and the most deadly strains of flu. Every year there are hundreds of biological related incidents reported to the Health and Safety Executive but while the headline numbers are published the details are shrouded in secrecy and rarely come to light.

Meanwhile, a rapidly developing branch of science known as 'synthetic biology' offers dramatic possibilities for developing new vaccines and targeting many lethal diseases. But does it also increase the risk that newly-created organisms could be used for harmful purposes as the necessary research techniques spread out from authorised laboratories to a network of DIY enthusiasts?

There is growing concern that that biological techniques are advancing so quickly that they outstrip the mechanisms to control them. The FBI has tasked a unit to monitor the DIY enthusiasts but admits it only has limited resources to do so.

Could genetic mutation of pathogens become as commonplace as home-brewing? And how well protected is the UK against biological threats?

Reporter : Gerry Northam

Producer : Nicola Dowling

Editor : David Ross.

As scientists alter viruses to make potentially deadly mutations, is the public at risk?

Update 30 July 2019: The Supreme Court has now refused the tea pluckers leave to appeal against earlier judicial decisions which didn't go in their favour. This was the last legal avenue open to them in England. Lawyers acting for the workers say they now plan to discuss the case with the UN Working Group for Business and Human Rights.

Producer: Nicola Dowling

Reporter: Anna Cavell

Editors: Gail Champion & Andrew Smith

Photo credit:; carefullychosen\Getty Images

Bitter Brew: The harrowing story of rape, murder and violence on a Kenyan tea plantation.

After years of legal proceedings which the claimants' solicitors say have so far cost £3.25m, the Legal Services Commision refused a much smaller sum to take the case to trial, just weeks before hearings were due to start. As a result, more than a hundred claimants are left with no chance of their day in court.

Their case was not deemed strong enough to pass the standard test which requires them to prove that the drug doubled (at least) the risk of harm. This test is called into question by experts in cases against pharmaceutical companies in Britain and the USA. A lower level of proof is needed in American courts.

The government has announced that future patients in England and Wales alleging clinical negligence or personal injury can expect to have their applications for legal aid refused under its programme of spending cuts.

No such change of policy is planned in Scotland. A case is proceeding there with support from legal aid by a patient who took another drug, for relieving arthritis, which is blamed for increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes - again this is denied by the company concerned. Patients in England and Wales who took the same drug and suffered heart attacks have been turned down for legal aid funding and have shelved their cases.

Will government cuts effectively put wealthy pharmaceutical companies beyond challenge in the civil courts?

Reporter: Gerry Northam

Producer: Gail Champion.

Is the government making it almost impossible to sue a drug company?

Allan Urry assesses the vulnerability of our ports, struggling with cuts to Border Force personnel and problems with a computer system that was supposed to have identified all those coming into and going out of the UK. The programme reveals how security checks on cargo are being compromised and hears concern about the gaps in surveillance of our coastline.

Producer: Emma Forde

Reporter: Allan Urry.

With concern over illegal immigrants and returning extremists, how secure are UK borders?

Theresa May has promised to stick to a promise to bring down net migration to the tens of thousands, and post the vote for Brexit, is under pressure to be tough on immigration.

But File on 4 has found a market in fake documentation is helping some migrants who aren't eligible to come here, to get the necessary visas.

High street immigration advisers, and even a solicitor tell the programme's undercover researcher how to buy their way in using fake documentation.

The programme asks what the authorities are doing to catch the crooks.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion.

An expose of firms offering to produce fake papers to enable migrants to get into the UK.

Producer Nicola Dowling.

Has the government done enough to protect us from flooding? Allan Urry investigates.

Reporter: Angus Crawford

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Gail Champion

Why thousands of foreign directors head up UK firms they actually have little to do with.

The stockpile has come from nuclear waste that was reprocessed to extract plutonium which was to have been used to power a new generation of fast breeder reactors. But that project failed to be finished and now just over 100 tonnes of it is being stored at Sellafield in Cumbria. The stockpile grew even more when the UK received imports from Japan and Germany which it had hoped to convert into fuel - again this project has failed to deliver.

The Government is considering a number of options.

Convert the plutonium into mixed oxide (Mox) fuel and then burn the fuel in conventional, nuclear reactors. This would involve the construction of a second Mox fuel plant at Sellafield despite the fact the first plant failed to produce any significant amount of Mox and was closed in 2011.

Burn the plutonium in a new breed of Prism fast reactors. But critics say the technology is not proven and therefore risky.

Treat it as a deadly waste product and bury the plutonium currently stored at Sellafield deep underground for thousands of years. Again critics say burying waste is risky and even then the plutonium would have to be treated before it could go into the facility. Supporters of plutonium as fuel still claim that would be throwing away a potentially valuable asset. On top of that we are not likely to have a repository for decades and very few local authorities have volunteered to consider having it in their back yard.

Rob Broomby investigates the difficult questions facing the Government whose decision will potentially bring in a bill for the taxpayer of billions of pounds.

And how much of gamble will it be choosing what to do with this most deadly of substances?

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

What to do with the world's largest stockpile of civilian plutonium being kept in the UK?

For this edition of File on 4, Michael Robinson investigates some of the apparently straightforward financial products banks now offer and uncovers disturbing complexity.

One product, called Exchange Traded Funds, appears to offer private individuals and pension funds a cheap and simple way to invest - in anything from the top 100 companies on the British stock exchange, to obscure companies in emerging economies or even to baskets of commodities.

Beneath this apparent simplicity, the programme discovers that many EFTs hide a forest of financial engineering designed to increase the profits of the banks which provide them. But at what risk?

Another product, so-called 'Naked Credit Default Swaps' may have an obscure name but they were at the heart of the financial crisis and are still one of the most widespread instruments used by banks. They are now accused by some of exacerbating Europe's sovereign debt problems.

A leading British financial academic likens them to taking out insurance on someone else's life. There is then an obvious incentive, he tells the programme, to push the person who's life you have insured under a bus.

On both sides of the Atlantic, regulators hoped to reduce the risks of this massive market. But, as the programme discovers, there's widespread doubt among financial professionals that they've succeeded.

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Do the complex financial products banks still offer threaten another meltdown?

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

A lasting legacy? Have the sexual abuse revelations blighted Rotherham in the longer-term?

Campaigners claim the system for assessing the effectiveness of such programmes is too secretive and needs to be made more open. Some experts believe there's been an over-reliance on treatment schemes as a way of calculating the risks posed by prisoners. Victims say some prisoners are playing the system - accessing programmes to convince the authorities they're safe to be released. Former inmates say education and training are more likely to stop offenders returning to a life of crime, while there's emerging evidence that providing newly-released prisoners with support in the community is the key.

Reporter Danny Shaw

Producer Nicola Dowling

Editor Carl Johnston

Photo credit; Motortion\Getty

~File On 4 reveals the inside story of how players and betting gangs are seeking to corrupt the lower tiers of the sport. In many cases, a player only has to lose a set or certain games - not the whole match - to get paid. Players and fixers communicate on social media as matches get underway to ensure the correct outcome is achieved. The rewards can be significant with players sometimes being paid thousands of pounds - often much more than they can earn in prize money. For the betting gangs who have placed money on a guaranteed outcome, the pay off can be much greater.

Two years after File on 4 first revealed concerns about match fixing in the game, the programme looks at how the tennis authorities have responded to the issue and examines the measures put forward by an independent panel to reduce the risk of corruption.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit: AFP / Getty Images

The inside story of how players and betting gangs are fixing matches in tennis.

Their engines seemed clean in laboratory tests; on the road they emitted much higher levels of nitrogen oxide gas which can damage our health.

Although 8.5 million VW engines in Europe were fitted with the same so-called 'defeat devices', no EU state has yet to take any action against the manufacturer.

~File On 4 tells the story of how the emissions scandal has spread to manufacturers beyond Volkswagen.

Europe's MEPs have voted for a new 'real driving emissions' test, but critics accuse European Council ministers of watering it down to please their domestic car industries. A proposal for an independent EU agency to oversee emissions tests and issue sanctions was blocked.

And the manufacturers have been given breathing space before they must meet the legal emissions standards - the new legislation lets them emit beyond the pollution limits for years to come.

Diesel cars were supposed to bring down emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2. But have those plans now gone up in smoke?

The programme asks whether this is the next emissions scandal and whether Europe has the power to make cars as clean as they say they are.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Rob Cave.

After the US diesel scandal, does Europe also need to come clean about car emissions?

But unions say the numbers of inspectors has been cut. They are warning of fewer inspections and say staff are so overstretched they could miss vital warning signs of abuse or neglect. Worried relatives say they feel their concerns are not being heard.

Fran Abrams asks whether the elderly in care homes are being adequately protected.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Is enough being done to protect the elderly in care homes? Fran Abrams investigates.

In one case investigated by File on 4, foster parents who offered to care for four siblings were denied the financial and practical support they needed from the council. Their official complaints were upheld yet key recommendations continued to be ignored and, as a consequence, the children have now been split up. After giving up their jobs to care for the children, the couple are now in debt and have to sell their home. The local MP describes the council's treatment of the family as outrageous. He says the case is extreme but not unusual and he's called for an enquiry.

In another case, a teenager with complex mental and physical needs was unlawfully removed from the foster home where he'd grown up. His sister told File on 4: 'When he was in his foster mum's care he was always clean, always happy and he looked well but when I saw him he was dishevelled. It was as if someone took him away from himself. I felt his personality had gone.' When his foster mother went to court to get him back, she was vilified by the council who used public funds to defend their actions to the bitter end but lost in court.

A recent report identified a shortage of foster carers in the UK but are some councils driving away the people who should be their best resource?

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

~File On 4 investigates claims of bullying and abuse of power by social services.

Michael Robinson reveals how on-going economic volatility and uncertainty can also present golden investment opportunities - and how, through complex trades, bets and investments, some find cash in the current crisis.

Producer: Gail Champion

Reporter: Michael Robinson

Editor: David Ross.

How investors are profiting from the eurozone crisis. Can money be made from disaster?

Producer: Anna Meisel

Reporter: Greg McKenzie

Assistant Producer: Patrick Kiteley

Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Editor: Carl Johnston

How did two people die at Brixton O2 Academy?

Local people near the first known case in Mexico questioned the role of an American-owned industrial scale pig farm not far away. Any link was strenuously denied, however, and the US pork industry soon helped persuade medical authorities to drop the term 'swine flu'.

But for years American virologists have been studying the links between new and potentially risky flu viruses and farm animals. Whatever the role of pig farms in Mexico, experts say that parts of the current flu virus can be traced back to outbreaks of swine flu, then affecting only pigs, in several American states in 1998.

As Julian reports from the USA, the move to highly intensive pig farming methods by some companies has long been denounced by green groups and the animal welfare lobby, who allege massive damage to the environment, intolerable smells, and health risks to farm workers and their families. Now they are asking if factory farming conditions could have increased the dangers of a global flu pandemic.

Julian O'Halloran investigates claims about the causes of the swine flu virus.

Jane Deith hears about the options the government's considered to meet an EU target of providing 15% of energy from renewables by 2020. Does the answer lie in buying in renewable power from Norway, or 'credit transfers' from countries who've hit their targets? Or does the commitment need to renegotiated completely?

With growing pressure to keep a lid on bills, will renewables come second to economic interests?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Rob Cave.

Holding back the tide: will the UK keep its renewable energy promises?

At the same time, substantial cuts are expected in official regulators which check that charities are competent and honest.

Recent financial scandals have shown the vulnerability of even the most prestigious organisations to systematic fraud.

The Charity Commission admits that a quarter of charities fail to file their accounts on time, covering a combined annual income of £6 billion. The Commission also says that in future allegations of fraud may no longer be automatically investigated.

Meanwhile, other national charities are facing rebellions from lifelong local supporters over planned reorganisations designed to win huge public contracts.

Gerry Northam asks if we can be confident that charities are fit and honest enough to take responsibility from the public sector.

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Can charities be trusted to run public services well and honestly? Gerry Northam reports.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Is enough being done to prevent rogue states and terrorists acquiring chemical weapons?

So what's been going wrong - and will the radical solution coming out of Whitehall really work? Jenny Chryss investigates.

Producer: Rob Cave.

What will it take to improve failing children's services - and is change fast enough?

For some the outlook is good but for those struck down by one of the rarer cancers, the prognosis can be a bleak one.

Two hundred and fifty children die each year from the disease.

Parents have told File on 4 there is a worrying lack of research into new drugs for childhood cancers, with youngsters sometimes offered treatments which have hardly changed in the last forty years - treatments that can have a limited chance of success and which can cause fatal, serious and life-long side-effects for those lucky enough to survive.

In the battle to get the most up-to-date treatments for children with some of the most aggressive cancers, increasing numbers of families say they are forced to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to travel abroad to take part in pioneering drugs trials elsewhere.

Meanwhile UK researchers say they face a constant battle for funding. They also warn of a loophole in European regulations which they say stops break-through drugs that have been developed for adult cancer sufferers, being developed to benefit children.

As science takes the treatment and understanding of disease to new levels, Jane Deith asks whether enough is being done to give children a fighting chance.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Childhood Cancer: Is red tape stopping the development of new drug treatments?

Parents of children with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) reveal how they have been investigated and referred for child protection measures on suspicion of a rare form of child abuse known as Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII).

FII, also sometimes known as Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, is extremely rare and occurs when a parent or carer exaggerates or deliberately causes the symptoms of a child's illness. One charity says FII is being used inappropriately by education and health professionals. We talk to families who claim the stress caused by this accusation has made their children worse.

With doctors divided over the best way to treat children, what's the impact on families?

Reporter: Matthew Hill

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Families of children with a severe fatigue condition say they have been accused of abuse.

But is there a difference in the standard of care between ‘for profit' and ‘not-for-profit' children's homes? With exclusive access to new data from the regulator Ofsted, reporter Tom Wall investigates the companies that are making huge profits from the children's homes to ask whether there is shortfall in care and whether the reforms suggested are necessary.

Tom also talks to care leavers and children who have experienced life in homes where profit is a priority.

This epsiode of File on 4 is a repeat of the programme first broadcast on Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Reporter: Tom Wall

Producer: Jim Booth

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Editor: Carl Johnston

An investigation into the standards of care provided by 'for profit' children's homes.

The idea is simple - invest huge sums of money and in return acquire residency rights or citizenship, even visa-free access to all European member states.

The UK offers residency in exchange for an investment of £2 million - or for £10 million, the possibility of British citizenship within two years.

And across the world, countries are vying to attract the super-rich through these schemes. But they are attracting attention for the wrong reasons.

European MEPs have launched an investigation into a 'Golden Passports' programmes across Europe - including the UK - amid concerns that they pose a corruption risk. In the US, government financial investigators say individuals are buying citizenship to hide their true identity, in an attempt to flout economic sanctions against Iran.

Tonight, File on 4 examines the trade in passports and visas for the wealthy and asks whether they deliver any real value for the countries that sell them, and assesses the evidence that they are being used by criminals.

Reporter: Alys Harte

Producer: David Lewis

Editor: Gail Champion.

An investigation into the lucrative trade of selling citizenship to the world's rich.

But coal mining in Britain is now in deep trouble.

Two of the UK's major mining firms have collapsed and a third is in trouble following a huge underground fire in February.

The fire was at Daw Mill in Warwickshire, one of the few remaining deep mines in the UK.

Coming on the back of competition from cheap coal from abroad, the costly fire plunged mine operators UK Coal into financial crisis and has put the pensions of workers at serious risk.

As the government negotiates to try to help pick up the pieces Julian O'Halloran discovers UK Coal's problems come on top of heavy penalties imposed in recent years by safety regulators over fatal accidents underground.

Meanwhile the collapse of two key operators in Scotland has left a trail of unrestored opencast sites which local people say are blighting their areas. They blame national and local government for failing to force the mining companies to clear up their mess.

So what does the future hold for the industry, the miners and local communities. And at what cost to the taxpayer?

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Coal keeps the lights on. But as UK mining firms collapse, do ministers have a plan?

The National Audit Office has warned more than a quarter of further education colleges could be deemed financially inadequate by the end of the year. And this month MPs on the Public Accounts Committee will launch an inquiry into the financial sustainability of the sector.

But how far is the crisis also a result of poor planning and excessive borrowing by colleges themselves? A File on 4 investigation finds some institutions taking increasingly desperate measures to make ends meet.

And it asks whether the sector is being adequately policed: when a college faces financial collapse, what safety nets are in place?

Reporter: Fran Abrams Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

With millions of new apprenticeships promised, how will cash-strapped FE colleges deliver?

Jenny Cuffe asks why CAFCASS, the family courts' advisory service, is facing a backlog.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called it a 'watershed' moment, and a report by MPs slammed the government contractor's 'rotten corporate culture', claiming those at the top treated suppliers with 'utter contempt'. There was also a stark warning that a similar collapse could happen 'again, and soon'.

But whilst Carillion shone a spotlight on some of the 'reckless' and 'greedy' financial practices used by those at the top of large-scale construction, and left accountants and ministers with questions to answer, has anything changed six months on?

~File On 4 investigates an industry treading a financial tightrope - a world of huge turnovers but tiny profit margins, spiralling debts and late payments. Alistair Jackson speaks to subcontractors who say they're still working in 'a climate of fear', and are being pushed to the brink, financially and emotionally, by their bigger construction counterparts.

Reporter: Alistair Jackson

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Gail Champion.

Are construction giants exploiting their suppliers to balance their books?

Under the system of 'Continuing Healthcare' people with complex medical needs can claim the costs of nursing and medical help to keep them out of hospital. But the system has become mired in controversy with many people claiming they've been denied funding to which they are entitled.

Now there's a deluge of backdated claims against Clinical Commissioning Groups.

~File On 4 finds the backlog is creating long delays in new assessments of patients.

And it hears claims the assessments themselves are a postcode lottery, with the chances of being deemed eligible varying wildly between GP commissioning groups.

The programme also hears evidence of NHS commissioners and councils fighting each other not to take responsibility for patients.

Patients and their families are going to the health ombudsman in their hundreds.

18 clinical commissioning groups are already going to end the year in the red, with some threatened with being put in special measures over their finances. Now they owe millions of pounds in backdated claims, plus interest.

Is this creating an incentive to squeeze spending on continuing care? GP commissioners are about to be asked to put £1.9 billion into the pot for new joined-up health and social care services. Do they have the money, or the will, to buy into joined-up care?

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Care Crisis: Can the NHS afford long-term community nursing care for the old and the sick?

This new regime created an unprecedented situation where commercial firms were able to secure large contracts quickly. But did this mean that money was spent without due diligence, regard for transparency - and potentially value for the taxpayer?

In a joint investigation with The Guardian and the non-profit investigative organisation Source Material, File on 4 investigates whether some firms were given preferential treatment when lucrative contracts were being awarded.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Gail Champion

Have some companies had preferential treatment for lucrative government contracts?

Reporter: Livvy Haydock

Producer: Jim Booth

Editor: Nicola Addyman

The women who commit crimes after years of controlling and abusive behaviour by partners.

From deliberately sabotaging contraceptives to forcing someone to have an abortion, it is used to gain power and control - and can have devastating consequences.

But with links to domestic violence and even homicide, is enough being done to spot the signs?

Rachel Stonehouse investigates.

Producer: Alys Harte

Editor: Maggie Latham

Details of organisations that can provide help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline including:

Domestic abuse

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3FQFSnx6SZWsQn3TJYYlFNy/information-and-support-domestic-abuse

Sexual abuse and Violence

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

Emotional distress

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/information-and-support-suicide-emotional-distress

Rachel Stonehouse investigates a form of abuse called reproductive coercion

In these recordings for File on 4, doctors and nurses take off their masks and reveal their private emotions and professional fears. They talk from the heart, sharing how they feel about their patients and the emotional toll on them and their families. For the diarists, it's a rare moment to stop and reflect, to mourn the losses and hold on to the glimmers of hope.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Carl Johnston

Candid diaries of doctors and nurses recorded over two months of the coronavirus pandemic

~File On 4 hears from those who say opportunities to collect and share information were missed, that vital PPE supplies weren't secured quickly enough and that a policy of discharges of untested patients into care homes was ill thought-out and badly executed. The effect this has had on residential elderly care, they say, isn't just measured in the deaths of those who went too soon, but also in the threat the virus now poses to the survival of the whole private care industry.

With testimony from those at the front line at the very beginning of the crisis, File on 4 examines the fight to keep care home residents safe on the frontline and investigates the circumstances which led to care homes becoming one of the most significant crucibles for the virus.

Editor; Ciaran Tracey

Producers; Rob Cave and Helen Clifton

Reporter; Jane Deith

Did the authorities react quickly enough to the threat to care homes from Covid-19?

Ann Alexander investigates concerns about the conduct of inquests in England and Wales and asks why there is so much variation in behaviour of coroners and the rigour of their investigations.

Under the current system, it is up to the coroner what evidence he or she relies on, but this can leave families unhappy at the verdict and with little hope of appeal. The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 included long awaited reforms to the coronial system. At its centre was the role of Chief Coroner, but the coalition Government said the post was unaffordable and want it scrapped. So are Ministers missing a chance to ensure judicial oversight, enforce national standards and increase accountability?

Presenter: Ann Alexander

Producer: Paul Grant.

Ann Alexander investigates whether families are getting justice in the coroner's court.

Now social services say the pressure on parents is causing a significant increase in family breakdowns and the number of children being taken into care.

Reporter Paul Connolly speaks to parents who fear the cost of living crisis could see them lose their children and investigates whether enough is being done to prevent families breaking down.

~File On 4 hears from social workers on the frontline who say more and more children are falling into extreme poverty and face a daily battle to help their parents keep them safe.

The programme uncovers new data which reveals the increasing pressure the cost of living crisis is placing on children's social care and asks what the future holds for a service already struggling to meet demand.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Ben Robinson

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

An investigation finds the cost of living crisis will force more children into care.

Fran Abrams examines aggressive cost-cutting in the government's forensic science service.

London's successful bid to stage the 2012 Olympics placed great emphasis on the benefits it could create for Britain and its capital city. Not only should the Games bequeath impressive new sporting facilities to the people of London, but the event and its aftermath was expected to kick-start economic development in the East End -- still one of the least prosperous parts of the country.

Has the forward planning paid off? Controversy and confusion still shrouds the future ownership and operation of London's Olympic stadium. Despite bids from rival football clubs, the stadium remains in public ownership. The Olympic village meanwhile has been sold to developers at a loss to taxpayers, and some critics claim a major opportunity to embed a new science and technology research centre on the Olympic park has been squandered.

With mounting pressure on Games organisers and Government to recoup the taxpayers' investment in the Olympics, many Londoners fear that the early promises of economic regeneration for the East End will fail to materialise.

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Andy Denwood.

Will Britain's Olympic billions buy a lasting legacy for taxpayers?

But, one person's white elephant is another's much loved local facility, so the choice of what goes on the market often causes great public resentment.

Jenny Chryss visits four local authorities where announcements about asset sales have caused serious questions to be asked. She finds allegations of decisions taken behind closed doors, sums that don't stack up and property that could end up being mothballed for years to come.

So are councils getting value for money for their tax payers? Or are they out of their depth when they negotiate with the private sector, especially in one of the harshest property markets for years?

And with a major shift in the way councils are audited, is there a danger that mistakes could go unnoticed and unchallenged?

Producer: Rob Cave.

Are taxpayers getting value for money when cash strapped councils sell off their assets?

As some invest in commercial property others are spinning off traditional council departments into new companies with commercial divisions. The aim is to plough profits back into services.

But as the programme discovers these plans don't always work out. What happens when there is no profit? As the pressure on adult social care grows, some councils now face the twin struggles of meeting demand, with the need to turn a profit. Is this too much of a gamble in services which can mean the difference between life and death?

Allan Urry investigates the scale of the challenge as local authorities grapple with rising demand, falling income, and new ways of doing business.

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Laura Harmes.

The local councils turning to commercial investments to balance the books.

What are the driving factors behind the increase? Is there any merit to claims the drugs are ineffective - and, in some cases, have serious side effects in children? And is the NHS providing the proper support to young people affected by mental illness who are turning to medication to cope?

This, however, is not the first time a surge in the rate of antidepressants being prescribed to young people has been deemed a cause for concern. In 2005, in response to public concern, prescription guidelines were introduced. They included step-by-step instructions for medical professionals who treat patients under 18 years of age; providing, for the first time, standard treatment protocols. In turn, the number of antidepressants being prescribed across the UK declined for a period. But, now, some thirteen years later, the numbers have surpassed pre-NICE guidelines levels - and show no signs of slowing. And there's evidence that the guidelines themselves are being ignored in some cases.

Paul Connolley investigates the causes and risks of an increasing reliance on medication.

Reporter: Paul Connolley

Producer: Carl Johnston

Editor: Gail Champion.

Why are more children than ever being prescribed antidepressants and what are the risks?

Stories from the frontline in the fight against Covid-19.

This is a new disease, so doctors are guessing when it comes to the symptoms people will have long term.

But it's clear this virus has a sting in its tail. The sickest patients have damage to their lungs and kidney which could be permanent. Some research shows the risk of heart attack or stroke is high. File on 4 talks to people living with the after effects of Covid 19 who say surviving was just the beginning. There are a multiotide of physical after effects - and many more have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. People describe flashbacks to the ITU, seeing people die, overhearing their last goodbyes with loved ones on phone or the internet.

Patients who were hospitalised get follow-ups, and referrals for rehabilitation and possibly, counselling.

But what of the hundreds of thousands of other people who fell ill and who, if it weren't a pandemic, might have gone to hospital, but were told to stay at home?

Researchers say there are at least 300,000 people who have had symptoms of Coronavirus for more than a month - so called Long Haul Covid.

Many are young and previously fit. They say they had a mild case of the virus. But they have been floored by the symptoms that followed - breathlessness, racing heart, weakness. And they're struggling to get care and support.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Helen Clifton

Editor: Carl Johnston

After coronavirus, the survivors left with life-changing and long-term conditions.

The closure of international borders and global lockdown has made some criminal activities impossible while at the same time creating opportunities for new ones.

While law enforcement around the world grapple with this new challenge, criminals seek to profit from the pandemic.

In this episode of File on 4, reporter Paul Connolly examines how the global crisis has changed organised crime - with some unexpected consequences.

~File On 4 examines how the global pandemic has shaped organised crime.

Over the past five years the CPS has seen budget cuts of over 25% resulting in job losses and internal reforms. Despite this, the organisation maintains that it continues to improve performance - measured by conviction rates in both magistrates' and Crown Courts.

However, there are increasing concerns about staff morale, the quality of decision-making and the standard of advocacy in court . BBC Home Affairs Correspondent, Danny Shaw has been hearing frank testimony from both inside and outside the CPS which presents a revealing picture of the justice system in England and Wales.

Presenter: Danny Shaw Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Under fire over controversial decisions, is the Crown Prosecution Service up to the job?

~File On 4 takes a forensic look at the demise of the 178-year-old company, revealing how it came about, the warning signs that were ignored and why a last, desperate attempt at a bail-out came too late. Speaking to Thomas Cook insiders, the programme uncovers how senior executives made millions while loading the company with debt, and were unable or unwilling to change course. It also follows the progress of some of those pilots, cabin crew and shop staff who lost their jobs as they pick up the pieces and try to find their way back into the workplace.

Reporter: Howard Mustoe

Producers: Dan Box, Alys Harte and Luke Denne

Editor: Carl Johnston

Photo credit; Hassenstein, Alexander\Getty Images

~File On 4 charts the rise and fall of travel firm Thomas Cook.

Is this exploration of the complex world of the 'Big Three' rating agencies, BBC Chief Economics Correspondent Hugh Pym takes listeners behind the scenes of the world economy. Through revealing interviews with insiders and former analysts at Standard and Poor's (S&P), Moody's and Fitch, along with leading investors and bankers, Hugh tells the story of the world's ongoing financial woes from a new perspective and ask if anything has really changed. S&P managing director John Chambers explains why governments listen to what his company says.

In Italy the agencies - rarely heard about until recently - have suddenly been subject to police raids and front page headlines. Italy, like many European nations, is unhappy about its recent downgrade and campaigner Elio Lannutti is on a mission to break the power of the rating agencies. But is there any truth in the idea that they're acting politically in their judgements on the Eurozone?

Real concern about the 'Big Three' began following the collapse, in 2001-2003, of several major multinationals, including Parmalat, dubbed Europe's Enron. Ordinary people who lost money know only too well what it means when the rating agencies get it wrong. When mortgage-backed securities began going bad in 2007, alarm bells rang again. Why had financial products riddled with bad debt been given Triple A ratings?

So is there any way of breaking the 'Big Three's' grip on power - or are they an inevitable fact of life in a global financial landscape?

Producer: Lucy Proctor.

Do credit rating agencies threaten our financial stability? Hugh Pym investigates.

What lies behind the rise in violence is complex with cuts in police numbers, use of stop and search, rise in mental health issues and a lack of youth services being cited as contributing factors.

But Britain's most senior police officer, Cressida Dick, also says that social media is also partly to blame, with sites like You Tube, Snapchat and Instagram 'allowing young people to go from 'slightly angry with each other' to 'fight' very quickly

Relatives of victims - and judges in murder trials - also claim a form of hip hop, where rappers make threats to other gangs - and keep scores of killings - is helping fuel the bloodshed. It's called Drill.

When announcing a new strategy to tackle serious violence, the former Home Secretary Amber Rudd asked musicians to have a 'positive influence' on young people, and to move away from lyrics which glamorise violence.

File on Four investigates this world of violence playing out online - and on our streets.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producers: Emma Forde and Mick Tucker

Development Producer: Oliver Newlan

Editor: Gail Champion.

What part is social media playing in the rise in violent crime in the UK?

`Waste crime`; the illegal disposal of the UK's mountains of often hazardous rubbish, and those involved are finding new and inventive ways of cashing in.

~File On 4 investigates how gangs hide hundreds of tonnes of waste in fields and makeshift tips around the country, and goes out with enforcement officers as they raid factories and depots around the country. The crime costs the UK an estimated 600 million pounds a year, as it's escalated from opportunist fly-tipping to a dangerous and competitive criminal industry.

One farmer tells the programme how he was confronted by hooded men when he went to investigate suspicious activity on his land. The gang dumped 100 tonnes of waste before switching their lorry number plates and driving off. Three days later, a nearby farm was also hit, with another 100 tonnes, and again the gang escaped.

Others use their own premises to hide hazardous waste. They set up a legitimate operation, with licenses to process harmless rubbish. But that's just a front, a technique to trick to investigators from the Environment Agency. Behind the legal piles of rubbish are hundreds of tonnes of hazardous material.

The authorities are trying to fight back. But do they have the resources they need?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Editor: Gail Champion

The millions to be made from serious waste crime - the 'new narcotics' for organised gangs

Both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are committed to reform of the system. Unions are planning a campaign to preserve their members' rights and have already secured a significant court victory blocking cuts to redundancy payments.

Gerry Northam looks behind the headlines and asks if there really is a looming pensions crisis.

Producer: Samantha Fenwick.

Is there really a crisis over public sector pensions? Gerry Northam investigates.

The hospital, known as GOSH, boasts more specialist services for children under one roof than any other and employs some of the country's leading doctors to staff them.

The vast majority of the 43,000 children who stay at GOSH every year receive care which befits its reputation.

But when things go wrong, is the hospital being transparent about its failings and does it do everything it can to prevent mistakes being repeated?

When serious mistakes happen hospitals are duty-bound to launch serious incident investigations to understand what exactly happened and report them to external bodies.

But File on 4 investigates claims that in some cases the hospital has failed to declare serious incidents despite evidence of harm.

Reporter Michael Buchanan began investigating how the hospital deals with errors after attending the inquest of 14-year-old Amy Allan, from North Ayrshire, who died following elective back surgery.

Michael returns to Scotland six months later to investigate how the hospital responded to Amy's death and meets other families who say they cannot get the answers they're seeking.

Producer: Ben Robinson

Reporter: Michael Buchanan

Editor: Carl Johnston

Are allegations of failings at Great Ormond Street properly investigated?

Children - some as young as 9 -are being used as runners to move drugs and cash from cities like London and Manchester hundreds of miles away to other areas of the UK.

It's a massive problem which until recently was being ignored.

~File On 4 hears from some of the exploited young people who spent their teens travelling around the UK for months at a time living in drugs dens selling heroin and

crack cocaine.

They do this by taking over the homes of vulnerable people - drug users or the elderly - to sell drugs from and then refuse to leave -a practice called 'cuckooing' which can have tragic consequences.

These trafficked children often find themselves trapped by the gangs unable to escape because of the threat of violence or in order to pay back debts.

Are the authorities are doing enough to protect children from being exploited in this way? Or are they being let down by being viewed as criminals themselves rather

than the victims of organised crime?

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Emma Forde

Editor: Gail Champion.

The urban gangs using children to flood rural Britain with drugs and violence.

From this Spring, inspectors will ask how councils' commissioning practices are affecting the daily lives of those they care for. But with authorities under pressure simultaneously to cut costs, will quality continue to suffer?

Fears have been mounting about whether the basic needs of vulnerable people are being met. The government's human rights watchdog has been pressing the issue, along with tax officials who say many companies are breaching minimum wage legislation.

This week File on 4 reports on the results of its own survey of local authorities in England. Have councils increased spending to keep pace with inflation in the past few years, or have they actually driven down costs? And are they providing even the most basic level of resources that social service chiefs say are needed to keep those in their care safe and well?

Reporter: Fran Abrams

Producer: Emma Forde.

Are the old and vulnerable paying the price of cuts in home care?

In the first of a new series, File on 4 looks at the covert techniques being used to get beyond the firewall of a suspect's PC. But are the tactics legal? One leading expert says the rules governing interception are inconsistent and on occasions, misinterpreted by the police.

Reporter Stephen Grey also examines the way British companies are helping to proliferate this hi-tech snooping to countries with questionable human rights and which use it to monitor political opponents and dissidents.

And, with the Ministry of Defence developing its defences against sophisticated international attacks how vulnerable is the UK to 'cyber warfare'. Why did a Chinese state telecommunications company briefly 'hijack' most of the world's internet traffic one day last year?

Producer: David Lewis

Reporter: Stephen Grey.

Cyber Spies: computer hacking and the state.

But the families of some of those seriously injured and killed in workplace accidents say too many employers are still gettings off too lightly even when they've been found responsible for serious breaches of health and safety legislation.

As the government proposes lighter regulation of workplaces and the Health and Safety Executive faces deep cuts, Morland Sanders asks whether protection for employees will be put at risk.

After the first UK corporate manslaughter conviction, File on 4 examines safety at work.

It took a lengthy public inquiry to get to the bottom of failings in Mid-Staffordshire. Complaints of dangerous clinical practice and shoddy nursing standards were overlooked while whistle-blowers were treated as mere troublemakers and threatened with reprisals if they went public with their concerns.

Evidence is now emerging of a similar pattern in other places.

Gerry Northam examines the list of hospitals now under investigation and hears from doctors, nurses, patients and bereaved relatives. Have NHS managers done enough to address concern about high death rates?

How could it happen that the hospital reported to have the highest rate of excess mortality in the country - 20% above the expected level for its population of patients - was given a full seal of approval only three months earlier by the official regulator?

Producer: Rob Cave

Reporter: Gerry Northam.

Can we rely on the NHS to uncover hospital scandals? Presented by Gerry Northam.

In a series of six devastating 999 calls over one hour we hear how ambulance delays in Manchester changed the lives of one family forever, while paramedics and 999 call handlers chart the huge strain on the ambulance service through Christmas and New Year via personal audio diaries which reveal their innermost thoughts, concerns and experiences as they battle through the crisis.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Annabel Deas

Researcher: Scott Hesketh

Editor: Carl Johnston

Lives are being lost because ambulances are taking so long to reach the critically ill

Producer: Carl Johnston.

What's behind the rise in deaths among those who have taken the drug ecstasy?

The Guide has a solid reputation. Its findings are studied and used by leaders of the NHS. Dr Foster's statistical expert says that high mortality statistics should act as a 'smoke alarm' raising investigation of standards at a hospital. The Care Quality Commission praises Dr Foster's 'powerful analysis of hospital trusts' and the Health Secretary says: 'We expect all hospitals to examine this data carefully and take action wherever services need to improve'.

But some leading statisticians question the reliability of mortality statistics as an indication of clinical quality. And they believe that many pockets of poor practice go undetected in hospitals with good mortality scores.

Critics also see the publication of such data as an invitation to the press to distort the available evidence by calculating numbers of 'needless deaths' within the NHS. Such calculations have in fact been produced and then given widespread publicity. The NHS Medical Director calls them 'clinically meaningless and academically reckless'. But they continue to make the front pages.

Gerry Northam reports from hospitals which have 'worryingly high' mortality statistics according to Dr Foster and asks how much this really shows about their quality of care.

Producer : Ian Muir-Cochrane

Editor : David Ross.

Does the NHS rely on the wrong statistics to judge hospitals? Gerry Northam reports.

Student, Jessica, was left with a pile of debt recovery letters and bank statements which she hoped would hold the clue to his financial troubles. File on 4 reporter Helen Grady takes up Jessica's challenge.

Her findings include the fact that councils are increasingly enforcing council tax debts, often using aggressive tactics which have been outlawed or become outdated in the private sector. And that bankruptcy can trigger a series of punitive charges - including some paid directly to the Government - which can make a manageable debt unmanageable.

The charities interviewed for this programme that provide free debt advice are

Jane Deith speaks to families who claim their companies were unfairly forced to the wall and their lives ruined as a result of the actions of the Bank's Global Restructuring Group.

Billed as the equivalent of an intensive care unit designed to help nurse distressed businesses back to health, did the Global Restructuring Group kill some of them off instead? And was RBS able to profit as a result?

With a rising tide of complaints against the taxpayer-owned bank, the Financial Conduct Authority is beginning its own investigation.

So, was RBS being predatory or prudent?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Predatory or prudent? Has RBS been playing fair with its business customers?

Reporter: Kate West

Producer: Rhoda Buchanan

Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards

Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

If you've been a victim of harassment, stalking or revenge porn, details of organisations offering information and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

How a young woman was targeted by an online abuser who created pornographic deepfakes.

Award-winning current affairs documentary series

Kate West tells the story of Jodie - a young woman who was targeted by an online abuser who created pornographic deepfakes.

Current affairs documentary series investigating major issues at home and abroad.

A complex network of online universities sells degrees, doctorates and professional qualifications - for a price. Some of the buyers have gone on to trade on these credentials, including them on their CVs and gaining jobs in public life.

Others, after making an initial purchase, were blackmailed by the sellers, who threatened to expose them unless they paid out huge additional sums of money.

Despite criminal investigations in numerous countries, why is there still a thriving trade in dubious qualifications and are institutions and companies taking the issue seriously enough?

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producers: Matthew Chapman and Helen Clifton

Editor: Gail Champion.

How thousands of people in the UK have obtained fake and worthless degrees.

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Producers: Emma Forde, Annabel Deas and Scott Hesketh

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

Are dementia patients being failed when it comes to their continence care?

The PM says that an early diagnosis allows families to prepare for the care of a relative, but others argue there's no treatment for such a diagnosis and no robust evidence to justify a process that might lead to harm. Deborah Cohen hears from doctors who are concerned the drive to raise diagnosis rates is leading to people being misdiagnosed.

The Government has also pledged millions of pounds to help make England 'the best place in the world to undertake research into dementia and other neuro-degenerative diseases'. Scientists leading the research say they are making progress to find tests which could identify people at risk from the disease and develop a cure. But other researchers say money is being wasted because current directions in drug development are following the same path as those of the past which have ended in failure.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Has a drive to increase the diagnosis of dementia and find a cure been effective?

It's not just the old and middle-aged who are at risk. Young women with diabetes are 6 to 9 times more likely to die than their age group overall. And many more young people who don't die will develop life threatening diseases later due to failure to manage their blood sugar.

Badly controlled diabetes can lead to kidney disease, heart conditions, or blindness. It's also the cause of 5,000 amputations a year, mainly of legs or feet. With around 3 million diagnosed sufferers known to the health service, diabetes is said to be costing the NHS £9 billion a year, about a tenth of the total health budget.

Julian O'Halloran reveals why, despite Government pledges, it's so difficult to get to grips with the disease. And, with the incidence of diabetes rocketing, he asks whether the NHS can cope.

Producer - Gail Champion.

Despite pledges to tackle diabetes, why do 24,000 people die needlessly each year?

But the trail also goes via a number of UK-registered companies, including one based in the district of north Edinburgh made famous by 'Trainspotting', the novel about heroin addicts. It's not the only example of Eastern European fraudsters using the UK to launder their dirty money in this way. So why is it allowed to happen? Why is it so easy to set up an opaque shell company in the UK? And what is the role of so-called company formation agents? Tim Whewell investigates

Reporter: Tim Whewell Producer: Simon Maybin.

The role of British companies in a billion-dollar Moldovan bank scam.

The investigation follows a leak of thousands of emails and other documents. Jane Deith has been given access to the leaked papers and reveals what they tell us about the business of oil.

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Paul Grant.

Did UK firms win multi-million pound oil contracts through bribes to corrupt officials?

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Carl Johnston.

What is being done to tackle the UK's \u00a31 billion black market in illegal waste dumping?

Now Ellen has teamed up with journalist Nastaran Tavakoli Far to investigate whether what she saw online was extreme role play or very real abuse.

Ellen and Nas speak to disabled adult content creators, as well as safeguarding and legal experts to explore how society protects vulnerable adults, and what many of us get wrong about sex and disability.

If you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, details of help and support is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Presenters: Ellen Macleod and Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Producer: Ailsa Rochester

Sound Design: Rob Green

Executive Producer: Jo Meek

An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4

Is porn featuring disabled adults exploitative or empowering?

Ellen Macleod and Nastaran Tavakoli-Far investigate whether disabled adults in porn are victims or advocates. Taking a look at consent, safeguarding, sex and disability.

But Allan Urry asks if the current disquiet about disclosure should also extend to the Magistrates' Courts where almost all criminal cases start off. Some defence lawyers say evidence that could be helpful to their clients' cases is being with-held and are they're concerned that justice isn't always being served.

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Alys Harte

Editor: Gail Champion.

How are disclosure of evidence failures affecting justice in the magistrates' courts?

Alemi was found guilty of forging a dementia patient's will. But this deception was only the beginning. From Crowd Network, Doctor of Deception investigates how one woman's web of lies reveals historic flaws in the system designed to keep patients safe.

If you were treated by Zholia Alemi, or have concerns about her practice, there is a support page available on the General Medical Council's website: https://www.gmc-uk.org/news/news-archive/zholia-alemi---information-for-patients

Presenter: Saleyha Ahsan

Producer: Louisa Adams

Technical Producer: Phill Brown

Executive Producer: Samantha Psyk

The story of a doctor who couldn't be trusted and the patients who faced the consequences

Zholia Alemi was a psychiatrist with a secret. File on 4 investigates the doctor whose lies pose questions about the ways medics are regulated.

~File On 4 tells the story behind the killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.

Family doctors are key to the Government health reforms, but how efficient are our GPs?

Reporter: Jenny Cuffe

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Investigating the plight of foreign workers in the UK working in domestic servitude.

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Producer: Nicola Dowling

Editor: Nicola Addyman

Drink spiking - are some criminals getting away with it?

Investigating concerns about the way a bestselling antipsychotic drug was marketed.

The government has banned the export of some medications from the UK in an attempt to protect dwindling supplies but desperate patients are still travelling abroad to get the medication they need or, rationing their supply or going without treatments entirely.

~File On 4 examines the complex supply network behind the medication we're prescribed and finds out how a single broken link in the fragile chain can impact patients, doctors and pharmacists alike. Speaking to worried insiders, exasperated clinicians and patients left too frightened to leave the house, the programme uncovers a long-running crisis at the very centre of our health care system.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Steven Hobson

Editor: Carl Johnston

Image credit: Hiraman\Getty

Medics say drug shortages are worse than ever - putting the lives of patients at risk.

~File On 4 hears the stories of the terminally ill left to die in hostels and on the street.

An estimated 4751 people will sleep rough tonight in England. Many are seriously, even terminally ill.

If you're living on the streets, who will care for you when the end comes?

~File On 4 hears from homeless people living with life threatening illness, who can't find a regular bed for the night, let alone a place where their medical needs can be met.

A bed in a nursing home or hospice is usually not available to them. Hostels are left to do their best for the dying. But they say they aren't trained or equipped to give people a dignified death.

We speak to those battling to get homeless people basic medical care. And hear how when services fail, people are left to die on the street.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Emma Forde

Editor: Gail Champion.

Why does life on the street also mean death on the street for some rough sleepers?

Now the UK has asked for volunteers to travel to West Africa to try to bring Ebola under control. Thousands of American troops are also flying out to the region. But could all this have been avoided? Simon Cox asks why it took so long for the world to wake up to the threat posed by Ebola? He also investigates the treatments that are now, belatedly, being developed - treatments that have existed for decades. Vaccines and other drugs are being rushed into production at an unprecedented pace, by-passing the usual safety controls. However, all predictions are that many more people will die before the disease is brought under control. Even then, will it become endemic?

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: John Murphy.

Simon Cox investigates why it took so long for the world to wake up to the threat of ebola

Ministers, businessmen and members of the president's family have deposited vast sums in Swiss bank accounts and bought luxury properties in London. Where did all this wealth come from? How was the Egyptian government able to continue abusing its power for three decades? And could the regime's business partners in multinational corporations really have been blind to what was happening?

Fran Abrams travels to Egypt to investigate and to assess the chances of the money being recovered.

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Fran Abrams investigates the corruption that lay behind the Mubarak regime.

This week File on 4 investigates how cutbacks are leaving elderly people with insufficient care, and councils with a major financial headache.

The programme also hears from small care home providers who say they are being forced out of business because the fees local authorities now pay them are too low.

And with the report from a Government commission due in a few days, the programme asks whether the gap in funding for the care of elderly people can be closed..

Reporter: Fran Abrams

Producer: Gail Champion.

Why the UK's elderly care sector is facing a financial crisis.

But in January this year proceedings against two key figures in the case collapsed, leaving dozens of families asking if they will ever get justice.

While relatives demand a public inquiry into what happened in the six Welsh care homes at the centre of the case, 12.5 metric tonnes of unpublished evidence lie in a Pontypool warehouse.

Experts say prosecutors too often face insurmountable difficulties in bringing people accused of neglecting the vulnerable to justice. Several high-profile figures are now calling for a change in the law: one barrister and academic tells File on 4 current legislation gives greater protection against cruelty to animals than against people.

With other major scandals such as those at Winterbourne View and Mid-Staffordshire still fresh in the public mind, Fran Abrams asks if the justice system is fit for purpose when it comes to dealing with abuse and neglect.

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Are there lessons in the collapse of the UK's biggest elderly care home abuse inquiry?

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Who cares? Are elderly patients being left to suffer and die from neglect in hospital?

Earlier this year, the Electoral Commission identified 16 areas in England with wards that are at particular risk of electoral fraud.

~File On 4 visits some of those towns and cities and hears first hand evidence of intimidation and the widespread abuse of postal votes - including allegations that some people are being pressured into handing over their vote to party activists.

A candidate who successfully took a court case against his opponent after narrowly losing an election, says some campaigners have lost sight of what is right and wrong.

And a judge who sits in election fraud cases attacks the system as 'shambolic' and 'wide open to abuse'.

So is our voting system too vulnerable to fraud? Are the authorities doing all they can to root out corruptions? And is it time to end postal voting on demand?

Producers: Emma Forde and Sally Chesworth.

Is organised voting fraud skewing the outcome of local elections in some parts of Britain?

Producer: Rob Cave.

What will the government's plan to produce more low-carbon energy do to our fuel bills?

The government's hopes for recovery in UK manufacturing industry are also threatened in key sectors by rocketing energy prices. Some small and medium-sized businesses have already been pushed into liquidation and there are fears that others will follow.

Politically, attention is now focusing on the behaviour of the so-called Big Six energy companies which supply 99% of the gas and electricity used in British homes.

The regulator OFGEM accuses them of 'complex and unfair pricing policies'. It wants to increase competition by making it simpler for customers to decide to switch suppliers. It finds that prices go up like a rocket but fall like a feather. And it wants greater disclosure of corporate accounting systems, to check for excessive profits.

Gerry Northam examines claims from some industry insiders that the Big Six are behaving as the banks did before the credit crunch - threatening economic recovery while believing they are too big to fail.

Producer: Samantha Fenwick.

Are households and businesses being overcharged for gas and electricity?

They say their mental and physical health deteriorated while the psychologist in charge subjected them to psychological abuse. The clinic has since closed its doors, but the former patients say they have been left with life-long scars

Reporter: Divya Talwar

Producer: Ellie Layhe

The eating disorder clinic that left its patients with physical and mental scars

Producer: Samantha Fenwick.

Why are areas of Britain losing millions of pounds of regeneration money from Europe?

But an investigation for File on 4 has revealed the extent to which these payments are open to widespread fraud, abuse and mismanagement.

Angus Stickler tracks how money has gone astray across the 27 member states and asks why funding continues in regions with proven records of corruption and fraud. Throughout the EU there is evidence that money has been wasted or even stolen. In Southern Italy, money has gone to Mafia-controlled construction companies and bogus energy projects. Across the EU expensive projects lie unused and unfit for purpose, despite receiving funding of millions of Euros.

The EU has created its own anti-fraud agency, OLAF, to stop these abuses, but are critics right when they claim it's underfunded and ineffective?

~File On 4/Bureau of Investigative Journalism co-production.

Producer: Gail Champion

Editor: David Ross.

Angus Stickler investigates fraud involving European regional funding schemes.

Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe also receives substantial amounts of British aid but via charities and other non-governmental organisations. However, an exile who had attended opposition Movement for Democratic Change meetings in the UK has been revealed as a former torturer. Although he's rejected his past, its alleged the man was until recently on the pay-roll of Zimbabwe's notorious Central Intelligence Organisation - leaving the ex patriot Zimbabwean community scared and in disarray.

Jenny Cuffe asks whether in the light of such claims the British government should question its aid policy.

Why are some Rwandans in the UK living in fear of their government? Jenny Cuffe reports.

For pregnant women, many of the hospital restrictions implemented at the height of the pandemic remain. Many women must attend antenatal scans or go through early labour on their own, while their birth partners wait outside. Others have had to receive the worst possible news about their pregnancy alone.

Once the baby arrives, the landscape remains uncertain.

Health visitors are seen by many as a frontline defence against child health problems; a lifeline for new mums and their babies who are trained to spot early signs of illness, harm or neglect. Yet, the decision to redeploy many health visitors to the frontline during lockdown left countless families without the support they needed - a decision seen by some as ‘unnecessary' and ‘dangerous', one that could lead to a ‘second pandemic' of child protection issues.

Now, professionals are reporting ‘an explosion' in mental health problems amongst new mothers and their partners, while those suffering are struggling to get help.

Reporter: Alys Harte

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Gail Champion

Has the reduction of services for new mums and their babies caused long-term damage?

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Researcher: Luke Radcliff

Producer: Helen Clifton

Editor: Carl Johnston

Can convicted extremists be de-radicalised?

While we are often told the internet and social media have accelerated the fermentation of extremist ideas, File on 4 reveals how widely-available 'old media' is also disseminating sectarian and anti-Semitic messages, as well as support for Pakistani militant groups, through newspapers and TV channels accessible in Muslim communities across the UK.

A common theme is content about the Ahmadiyyah community, who are considered by some Muslims to be heretics. A persecuted community in Pakistan, such violence came to the UK in 2016 when shop keeper Asad Shah was fatally stabbed by a man accusing him of blasphemy. Despite this shocking sectarian murder, British Urdu media continues to publish insulting material targeting the Ahmadiyyah community - included campaigns calling on readers to boycott Ahmadi-made goods.

But at what point do these media outlets cross the line from bad taste to criminal behaviour? And are media regulators doing enough to prevent and punish the offenders?

Producers: Richard Fenton-Smith & Sajid Iqbal

Editor: Gail Champion

Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill.

Manveen Rana uncovers hate speech and sectarianism in British Urdu media.

The Metropolitan Police has announced it will use live facial recognition cameras operationally for the first time on London streets. The force sees the technology as a vital tool in the fight against crime. But privacy campaigners say it's a 'serious threat to civil liberties.

The pace is frenetic - new computer systems can watch thousands of people at once, with the most powerful able to operate at distances of over a mile.

They can do all of this in `real-time`, meaning everyone who passes by the camera can be scanned against a `watchlist` of suspects.

But technology like this means more and more innocent people are affected. Yet the public are not always explicitly warned, and neither are the regulators.

~File On 4 has been given new details of a trial at Meadowhall shopping centre in South Yorkshire in which police and retailers worked together to scan millions of shoppers, looking out for three suspects and a missing person (the latter was found as a result).

It was one of several trials conducted by police and private companies, which went ahead despite requests from the Surveillance Camera Commissioner for police to ask him before implementing such schemes.

The legislation surrounding facial recognition is new and mostly untested, leading to calls for stricter, more specific laws to be passed.

Meantime, the Surveillance Camera Commissioner has called for a regime of inspections of the technology for both public and private bodies; a call backed by the veteran Conservative MP David Davis.

Facial recognition may be new, but it still begs an urgent answer to an age-old question: who watches the watchers?

Reporter: Geoff White

Producer: Helen Clifton

Editor: Carl Johnston

Facial Recognition: Who's watching you?

Forensic science is increasingly important both in finding criminals and successfully prosecuting them. It's used for everything from investigating fires like Grenfell to huge terrorist cases. And it covers checking phone records, CCTV, DNA and fingerprinting. It's painstaking, time-consuming work but it can often turn up vital evidence.

The programme hears that a criminal investigation is underway into one company providing forensic evidence, another has gone bust and a third has had to be financially bailed out. Meanwhile some police forces carry out their own forensic work but incredibly some do so, without the official accreditation that forensic companies are expected to obtain. And the regulator says she can't do anything about it as the Government won't give her the powers she needs.

Presenter: Melanie Abbott

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Andrew Smith.

Are failings in forensic science leading to more miscarriages of justice?

~File On 4 explores whether clubs are vulnerable to companies and individuals who use the reputation of English football to lend credibility to their activities. But what due diligence do clubs undertake when securing such deals? Allan Urry looks at the relationship between soccer and sponsorship. He hears from some of the victims who've lost money, because they believed those who do business with the biggest names in football, could be trusted.

Reporter - Allan Urry

Producer - Emma Forde.

Should English football clubs take a closer look at who they turn to for investment?

In addition, we investigate the failure of gambling companies to stop millions in stolen money from being wagered on the beautiful game by customers involved in criminality. Firms should carry out anti-money laundering checks when large sums of money are lodged, won or lost by customers. But File on 4 has learned that some betting companies ignore these obligations, opening the door for the proceeds of crime to be gambled - and potentially laundered. In hearing the testimony of industry whistle-blowers, and that of problem gamblers who stole hundreds of thousands to fuel their addiction, we lay bare the sometimes darker matters associated with the fusion of the football and gambling industries.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Carl Johnston

The potential harms of the ever-increasing sponsorship of football by gambling companies

A group of MPs has just examined the case of the Cup Trust, a charity which tried to claim £46 million in tax relief but spent just £55,000 on good works. The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, concluded the Trust's purpose 'was to avoid tax'.

And she said this wasn't an isolated case. The Committee heard that HMRC investigates around 300 charities a year over concerns about tax fraud.

In this week's File on 4 Fran Abrams examines the blurred lines around charities and tax.

What happens when genuine charities find 'donations' are designed so the donors can claim Gift Aid payments from the tax man? And how easy is it to register a charity whose main aim is actually tax avoidance?

Is the 160 year-old Charity Commission up to the job of policing 21st Century charities?

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

As big business is asked to pay its dues, are some charities being used for tax avoidance.

Short-sellers - investors who bet on a company's shares falling, not rising- have a mixed reputation. For some they play a vital role, exposing weak companies - and can make big profits as a result. But others accuse them of using fake information to deliberately damage otherwise healthy businesses.

~File On 4 looks into the hidden world of the short sellers, the researchers who give them the information to make their bets and the companies who fall victim to what they publish. Are the shorters overstepping the stock market's rules on fairness and transparency?

Reporter: Geoff White

Producer: Rob Cave

Editor: Gail Champion.

Is financial fake news damaging business? Geoff White reports.

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

Producer: Mick Tucker

Development Producer: Oliver Newlan

Editor: Carl Johnston

Are lives being put at risk because families are refused funding at inquests?

The programme talks to relatives, expert forensic psychiatrists and academics to try to find out why they became so-called 'family annihilators'.

It looks at new research into such cases which points to a link to unemployment rates and the levels of gun ownership. It will also ask whether authorities like the health service and police could do more to watch for signs that men are a risk to their families and asks whether new gun licence measures are working.

Presenter: Jane Deith

Producer: Paul Grant.

What drives fathers to kill their families and themselves? Jane Deith investigates.

Police estimate tens of thousands of victims are hidden in towns and cities across the country; many kidnapped then subjected to forced labour or sexual exploitation, often under the threat of violence.

But what happens to victims after they escape or have been rescued?

~File On 4 investigates the government system designed to identify and support victims of modern slavery and human trafficking.

Victims say they haven't been properly looked after by the authorities, have been left in limbo - some waiting years for decisions on their status.

~File On 4 investigates allegations that a failure to adequately protect victims means some face being drawn back into exploitation by the very gangs from whom they escaped in the first place.

With the Prime Minister describing modern slavery as 'the great human-rights issue of our time' is enough being done to tackle the root causes and protect those unable to protect themselves?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Alys Harte

Development Producer: Oliver Newlan

Editor: Gail Champion

Are victims of modern slavery and trafficking being let down? File on 4 investigates.

Now File on 4 has discovered shocking new evidence of problems within the fire service elsewhere across the UK. We hear from those subjected to sexual assault, violence and bullying while working on the frontline, left suicidal as a result of the treatment they suffered at the hands of colleagues and those who were hounded out or chose to walk away from a career they loved.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Nicola Dowling

Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards

Editor: Carl Johnston

Firefighters on trial: File on 4 investigates claims of racism, sexism and bullying.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Kate West

Editor: Carl Johnston

MPs and supporters call for an overhaul of the way English football is governed

Producer: Rob Cave.

How well prepared is Britain's transport infrastructure to weather the winter storms?

Prof Chris Elliott, who was commissioned by the government to investigate the UK's most serious food scandal in recent years, says criminals are committing more food fraud because there's little risk of detection or serious penalties if they're caught.

Gerry Northam investigates the extent of food fraud across the UK and reports from Brussels on whether the EU has learned enough lessons from last year's scandal.

Producer: Carl Johnston.

After last year's horsemeat scandal, have enough lessons been learned?

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion

The elderly people targeted for marriage and exploited for financial gain.

But now the process is faltering, as a series of foundation trusts hit grave financial, managerial or care quality problems.

And though the NHS was meant to be ring-fenced from the deep cuts now hitting the rest of the public sector, a number foundation hospital trusts are facing bed closures and serious job losses.

In some cases emergency measures have been adopted to turn failing trusts around by bringing in highly paid crisis managers. But these have alienated staff and unions and seemingly pushed some hospitals further into the red.

So where does this leave the Government's plans for all hospitals to be run by foundation trusts? Julian O'Halloran reports.

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Why should we want more foundation hospitals when so many are in financial trouble?

At the same time, police economic crime units, which investigate fraud, have become increasingly stretched, partly as a result of government budget cuts. BBC Home Affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw, asks whether law enforcement has kept pace with the changing face of fraud and if there are enough resources to tackle financial crime and bring fraudsters to justice.

Reporter: Danny Shaw

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Do official crime figures reflect the rise in fraud, and are police able to combat it?

The closure comes just 5 months after ministers set new, ambitious targets to double the use of sustainable fuels - like bioethanol - by 2020.

The government says it's committed to green energy - its recent ‘Clean Growth Strategy' claims plans are in place to cut greenhouse gases by more than half of 1990 levels by 2030. And yet, research shows investment in green energy fell 56% last year, the biggest drop of any country - with policy change, subsidy cuts and 'stop-start' support from ministers being blamed.

So, do Britain's plans for a greener future add up? File on 4 takes to the road to find out. On a trip around the North East of England, Simon Cox asks why, when the offshore wind industry has grown, other cheap, renewable energies like onshore wind, solar power and now biofuels are struggling to survive. He examines whether changes in policy are hitting crucial investment, and if ambitious climate targets will really be met.

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producers: Mick Tucker and Oliver Newlan

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo: Thanet wind farm. Credit: Reuters.

Does Britain's green energy strategy stack up?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Carl Johnston

The fight against furlough fraud.

With evidence of widespread use of over the counter anti-inflammatories to support performance or recovery at amateur level, File on 4 looks asks if there is enough regulation of painkilling drugs in sport across the ranks.

About half of players competing at the past three World Cups routinely took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, according to research carried out by FIFA's former chief medical officer, Prof Jiri Dvorak.

For him, this clearly constitutes the abuse of drugs in football, one which risks player's health and could 'potentially' have life-threatening implications.

But is the sports community taking these warnings seriously enough? Professor Dvorak first warned about the long-term implications of players misusing painkillers in 2012 - has anything changed?

Industry insiders their concerns about pain killer use in professional sport - including one former rugby international who says he developed serious long-term health problems as a result.

And with evidence that even paracetamol can have a performance enhancing effect, how can sports regulators control substances that can give a competitive advantage but are widely available over the counter?

With tales of athletes receiving pain relief in order to compete with broken toes or even a fractured bone in their back, we explore the lengths some may go to in order to stay in the game and ask if some sports are risking long-term harm by chasing short-term goals.

Producer: Alys Harte

Reporter: Beth McLeod.

Painkillers in sport - the legal doping risking the long-term health of athletes.

For years there has been mounting concern that in the digital era betting companies have expanded far beyond the reach of the law and the Government is set to table major new rules to transform how the industry is governed.

But the reforms will not consider whether people who have been drawn into criminality by a gambling addiction are being failed by the criminal justice system.

~File On 4 uncovers significant failings throughout the criminal justice system when it comes to gambling-related crime.

Reporter Paul Connolly speaks to people who have been jailed for gambling-related frauds, who reveal a lack of awareness among police and the judicial system, an absence of treatment and a prison system unable to offer even the most basic help to people with gambling addictions.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Ben Robinson

Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Editor: Carl Johnston

Does the criminal justice system understand crimes driven by gambling addiction?

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Carl Johnston

Did allowing the sporting events to continue help spread Covid-19 and put lives at risk?

Image credit; Natasaadzic\Getty

The people reversing their gender transition

With more than 50 NATO troops killed in insider attacks this year, is enough being done to protect those working as mentors?

The US has invested over $50 billion on developing independent Afghan security forces but according to a US Government audit, the majority of Afghan troops remain heavily reliant on American help and support. Even widespread illiteracy remains a problem.

Meanwhile the impact of the recent attacks is huge - undermining the trust that's needed between the Afghan forces and the coalition troops getting them ready to take over the security in 2014.

So how reliable is the screening of new Afghan recruits? And, with continuing questions over their loyalties and capabilities, can there be an effective withdrawal in two years' time?

Presenter: Gerry Northam

Producer: David Lewis.

Why are growing numbers of allied soldiers being killed by their Afghan allies?

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Reporter: Alys Harte

Editor: Carl Johnston

Jailed for being abused? The untold story of Rochdale's grooming scandal.

The police praised the young women for finding the strength to give evidence against the gang and protect other girls.

But, after the legal process ends, what support is there for victims?

After a string of such abuse cases around the country, Jane Deith finds there are many young women who say they've been let down by the authorities and are struggling, alone, with mental health problems and difficulties with education and housing.

More victims of grooming are being rescued. But does being sexually exploited as a child mean a life sentence?

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Are young grooming victims getting the help they need to rebuild their lives?

Allan Urry discovers how extremists in neighbouring European countries were able to get access to guns and hears concerns about the ready availability of illegal weapons from Eastern Europe and North Africa.

So what risk does that pose for the UK? Britain prides itself on tough gun control, but is that enough to prevent determined would-be terrorists getting access to firearms?

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Gail Champion.

After terrorist shootings in Europe, how vulnerable is the UK to a similar attack?

Up until three years ago the guidelines for universities said sexual misconduct should never be investigated internally. But in 2016 guidelines published by Universities UK, encouraged universities to take on these cases in-house as civil matters, with allegations to be examined on ‘the balance of probabilities', rather than the criminal court standard of ‘beyond reasonable doubt'. But students tell reporter Fiona Foster how they believe universities are more interested in protecting their reputation than their students and serial offenders are still at large. Even when perpetrators are dealt with, they're often given derisory punishments.

The Office For Students says it has invested more than two million pounds in initiatives to work out ways of addressing the issue and that it has seen evidence of some universities managing complaints effectively. The organisation says if it sees evidence of a university not dealing with complaints it has the power to intervene.

Reporter: Fiona Foster

Producer: Kate West

Editor: Carl Johnston

Image credit; Christopher Furlong\Getty

Harassed students 're-victimised' by universities.

The Harris Federation seems an unlikely target for ransomware criminals but it found itself at the centre of a cyber attack by anonymous hackers. With its servers down and a ransom demand of nearly £3 million, school leaders had to decide quickly whether to pay or suffer the consequences. File on 4 has unique access to the extraordinary negotiations that took place behind the scenes, involving an Israeli security company and Russian hackers.

More British institutions are being hit by ransomware gangs than ever before, from multi-national corporations to health care trusts and even schools.

The attackers hack into an organisation's computer system, encrypt the data and demand a ransom to get it back. Increasingly, they also threaten to publish sensitive information if no payment is made. It's known as double extortion.

The former head of the National Cyber Security Centre tells File on 4 that the government needs to intervene as a matter of urgency, and make it illegal to pay ransomware gangs.

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Nicola Addyman

The UK schools caught in a multi-million pound cyber extortion attack by Russian hackers.

There's no doubt that the top echelons of the armed forces take such cases very seriously indeed. Speaking about recent allegations, the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith said it was unacceptable and in stark contrast with everything the British Army represents. But how far has that attitude filtered down the ranks in reality?

~File On 4 hears from current and former female service personnel who alleged that they were sexually harassed, assaulted or raped, about how they feel they were let down by their chain of command when they reported their ordeal. We hear their criticism of the official Services Complaint system. And why they think the incompetence of the service police undermined their attempts to gain justice.

We also hear from former members of the service police itself who explain why they think that their former comrades are not fit to investigate serious crime and why the system must be reformed. For its part, the Ministry of Defence tells the programme it accepts there are shortcomings and that changes are on the way,

Presenter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Paul Waters

Editor: Andrew Smith

Photo credit: MoD

Criticisms of the way allegations of sexual assault are handled in the armed forces

Jane Deith talks to those whose lives have been destroyed by benzodiazepines, a category of drugs usually used to treat anxiety that can be prescribed, but which have become a major feature of the illegal drugs market in Scotland and now elsewhere in the UK.

The so called `street benzos` are a class C drug manufactured in huge quantities in illegal factories and sold for as little as 50p each, less than a bar of chocolate.

But in combination with other drugs benzodiazepines can be fatal, significantly increasing the risk of an overdose. In recent years the number of people dying has risen sharply. Last year in Scotland more than 800 people died with illegal street benzos in their system. In England and Wales the death toll was over 500, with 171 of those who died having used benzodiazepine analogues, fake versions that can vary widely - and dangerously - in strength.

From the Clyde to Cornwall, File on 4 hears the stories of those dealing with the fallout from the trade in the drugs, including people who have been addicted to them; a mother in North East England who lost her daughter to a fatal overdose; a teenager who bought them on social media, and an expert who believes their influence is spreading, with potentially dangerous consequences.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Fergus Hewison

Research: George Crafer

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Editor: Carl Johnston

The cheap but deadly pills behind a spike in overdose deaths.

So why are they still finding their way onto the streets? File on 4 traces the supply back to labs in China and discovers a myriad of psychoactive substances are still only a few internet clicks away. Prior to the ban, the authorities were aware of the risk that internet sales could take over from the high street and that China is fast becoming the 'chemical and pharmaceutical wholesaler to the world'.

So is the new legislation really the answer, and if not, what options remain to disrupt the now illegal supply of these lethal substances?

Reporter: Danny Vincent

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

High way' to hell: File on 4 investigates the lethal highs coming to the UK from China.

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

With the CBI calling for it to be scrapped, Allan Urry examines the Highways Agency.

Producer: Andy Denwood.

How will the mortgage freeze hit Britain's already battered economy?

Families of those still stuck in these units say patients are trapped in the system with no clear plan or apparent will to get them home. For those eventually discharged, almost as many others are admitted - parents say, because there aren't enough community support services.

But if people are let out by the institutions, what's does so-called 'supported living' in the community look like? File on 4 hears concerns about the quantity and quality of this promised care. Parents describe living on the brink of a crisis that could land their children back in a cycle of being sectioned and locked up.

NHS England says the plans are taking shape. But families say it's like living in The Twilight Zone, in a limbo hidden from mainstream view and unable to find a way out.

So just how successful is the landmark 'Homes not Hospitals' plan, that aims to improve life for some of the most vulnerable patients in the NHS?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Editor: Gail Champion.

Has care for people with learning disabilities improved since Winterbourne View?

Jane Deith examines cases which raise concerns about out of hours care in hospitals. Is there enough senior medical support for junior doctors and how effective is the on-call system where consultants are available to give advice over the phone from home?

While departments such as accident and emergency, intensive care and obstetrics, already have consultants working in hospitals during the weekend, some medical colleges believe the time has come for 24 hour, seven days a week consultant cover on the wards. Jane visits hospitals trying to achieve this and hears the challenges they face.

The programme also investigates what this increased consultant presence might cost the NHS and whether there will be enough senior doctors available to make it happen. The College of Emergency Medicine, for example, says accident and emergency departments are facing a recruitment crisis and it does not expect to see the required number of consultants until 2030.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Can the NHS afford to have more senior doctors working out of hours? Jane Deith reports.

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Emma Forde.

How can we build more houses and still protect our countryside? Allan Urry investigates.

The number of paediatric pathologists means that children and babies are having to be moved around to other parts of the country in order for post mortems to be undertaken, causing even further distress for families.

When a child dies suddenly, sometimes post-mortems may need the input of specialist pathologists. But these even fewer in number meaning bereaved parents are waiting months, sometimes years to discover why their child died.

But these shortages can have even more devastating consequences.

~File On 4 has uncovered cases where parents suspected of harming their child have waited months for post-mortem reports to be completed, only to be exonerated of any wrongdoing once the findings are back. During which they've had other children taken into care and faced months under wrongful suspicion.

The head of the family courts in England and Wales says long waits for post-mortem reports in suspected child homicides cases is `unacceptable`. But it's not just the courts raising concerns. Senior police chiefs say a shortage of specialists is also causing delays to police investigations and the criminal process.

Adrian Goldberg investigates the crisis which has been years in the making, with The Royal College of Pathologists warning that the situation is `critical`.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Emma Forde

Technical Producer: Mitch Goodall

Editor: Carl Johnston

Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Adrian Goldberg investigates how a shortage of pathologists is impacting bereaved parents.

It's the job of the Pensions Regulator to ensure employers follow the rules and to protect the benefits of those who've been paying in. So how good are they at keeping your pension safe?

The programme untangles the complex financial engineering that goes on as some foreign investors try to wash their hands of any on-going obligations to their UK workforce.

And one former director whose actions cost a pension fund millions of pounds is confronted at his home.

Producer: Paul Grant

Reporter: Allan Urry.

As the scandal over the collapse of BHS rumbles on, how safe is your pension?

The cost is officially estimated to be £42.6bn and could rise to more than £51bn if, as expected, the scheme incurs VAT. Opponents foresee further increases and have predicted an eventual bill of £80bn for taxpayers.

Who stands to gain from the project and who will be the losers?

The government has published detailed maps of the route to be taken by the first stage, leading to calamitous falls in the value of many nearby properties.

Towns and cities which are near the route but not linked to HS2 fear that their economies will suffer as businesses are attracted to Birmingham and the northern ends of the line. Current fast train services are due to suffer drastic cuts in the wake of HS2 and some major development plans are now deemed to be at risk.

Meanwhile, economic advisers in the three major cities are planning for billions of pounds worth of benefits as travel-times and congestion on the existing network are reduced.

Gerry Northam reports from areas which expect to benefit from HS2 and those which could lose out and asks what lessons can be learned from the impact of Britain's first high-speed rail project - HS1 in Kent.

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane

Editor: David Ross.

Who are the winners and losers from high-speed rail?

Police say they are finally turning the tide on drug dealers selling on the darknet - a secretive part of the internet which has been described as like `online shopping for drugs.`

The UK's National Crime Agency says recent international takedowns of so called dark markets and arrests in multiple countries are a result of new techniques in cyber policing that is giving them the upper hand.

However, BBC research suggests that police around the world have an uphill struggle on their hands as many dealers - known as vendors - have survived multiple market place collapses by operating across many different darknet sites.

The BBC's cyber reporter Joe Tidy and BBC data journalist Alison Benjamin journey into this hidden world to speak to vendors and buyers and uncover secrets of the trade

The programme reveals the major role played by UK dealers in the global business which is estimated to be worth more than a billion dollars a year.

Reporter: Joe Tidy

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Maggie Latham

The high stakes cat and mouse game between police and darknet drug dealers.

Snared by the FBI in 2020, Abbas is better known as Instagram influencer Hushpuppi, who flaunted a life of designer clothes, private jets and penthouse apartments to millions of followers. Little did they know that his lavish lifestyle was funded through a complex web of cyber-heists. He even had a hand in an audacious attempt to steal £100 million from a Premier League Football Club.

Most cyber-criminals remain nameless, faceless, anonymous and all but untraceable. Now, File on 4 unmasks Ramon Abbas, revealing a complicated, sometimes ruthless character driven by a thirst for wealth and celebrity status.

In addition, we expose the inner workings of a clandestine operation that earned him a reputation as the world's most high-profile money-launderer.

Reporters: Paul Connolly and Princess Abumere

Producer: Helen Clifton

Editor: Maggie Latham

The rise and fall of Hushpuppi - the social media influencer and global money-launderer.

He hears of miserable and difficult times spent living in the shadows. But other illegal workers say they are making a bigger contribution than many who were born here. 'I'm doing a job that most English persons wouldn't do. I think I've never seen an English person cleaning a toilet'. And he goes to a well known part of London that owes its survival to the workers who shouldn't be here.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Jon Manel lifts the lid on illegal working in London.

~File On 4 investigates the British arms dealers brokering weapons for some of the world's most dangerous regimes. Some have done work for the Ministry of Defence. One was even a firearms advisor to the Home Office. Allan Urry asks what this means for the UK's licensing and arms export regimes, claimed to be among the best in the world.

Producer: Gail Champion.

Allan Urry asks how gunrunners can fuel the global illegal arms trade from within the UK.

Gerry Northam investigates allegations of incompetence in the Learning and Skills Council.

Michael Robinson examines the latest tricks which some banks are using to increase profits

But beyond the ethical and religious debate over halal, are there bigger concerns about how abattoirs are regulated and policed?

Companies have been fined for failing to remove body parts associated with the human form of mad cow disease, BSE.

Now there are plans to shake-up the inspection process which critics say this could lead to more infected animals entering the food chain.

There are also claims that vets based in abattoirs to monitor animal welfare - and inspectors who check meat we eat is safe - regularly face threats and intimidation.

Allan Urry investigates the grim realities of the slaughterhouse.

Producer: Carl Johnston.

After the recent debate over halal meat, Allan Urry investigates Britain's abattoirs.

Unlike music festivals, where on-site drug testing is rapidly becoming the norm, universities do little to engage with harm reduction. Those that do risk widespread criticism for ‘normalising' drug taking. Meanwhile Universities proclaim 'zero tolerance' drugs policies and the police say they have neither the resources or the inclination to punish casual drug use.

Tom Wright investigates whether universities are doing enough to help their students and asks, could campus drug testing help keep our students safe?

If you've been affected by addiction, help and support is available:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1kS7QTDB16PWkywhsXJLzxz/information-and-support-addiction-alcohol-drugs-and-gambling

Presenter: Tom Wright

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Andrew Smith

Students say drugs are as common as alcohol.

The Office of Fair Trading is calling for far reaching reforms amid concerns about high fees and low recovery rates for some creditors. So is there proper oversight of a profession which takes a billion pounds in fees each year, but isn't subjected to much public scrutiny?

PRODUCER: Paul Grant.

Allan Urry investigates concerns about the role of insolvency practitioners.

Reporter: Tim Whewell Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Have local authority insurers too much influence on the way sex abuse cases are handled?

Reporter: Alys Harte

Producers: Vicky Carter and Ella Rule

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Production Coordinators: Jordan King and Tim Fernley

Editors: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston

Are 'Employee Assistance Programmes' always offering a good service?

Award-winning current affairs documentary series

Alys Harte examines 'Employee Assistance Programmes' - which almost 25 million workers in the UK have access to through their employer.

Designed to curb Iran's nuclear programme, the oil embargo could further push up the cost of fuel.

Iranian companies are involved in a number of joint ventures that bring energy into European homes and factories: File on 4 examines what will happen to these vital projects as the new round of trade restrictions begins to bite.

And British companies that trade legitimately with Iran are already finding it harder to do business. They warn that it could lead to job losses.

How will the sanctions affect Europe at a time when many economies are in recession or are just stagnating?

And how effective are the new restrictions likely to be given Iran's experience of finding ways around international controls on what it can buy and sell.

Producer: David Lewis.

How will a European ban on Iranian oil affect Britain during a period of economic gloom?

The latest report from the UN's international watchdog, the IAEA, is due out next month - but has the IAEA been strong enough in its dealings with Tehran and Pyongyang?

Reporter Rob Broomby charts the history of concealment of Iran's nuclear activities and its refusal to abandon the most controversial parts of its programme, despite numerous UN Security Council resolutions and a raft of sanctions. In a detailed interview with File on 4, Iran's ambassador dealing with nuclear matters, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, denies his country is a 'serial offender'. But can protestations of innocence be taken seriously when Iran still refuses inspectors access to key sites and documents?

The programme also examines the role of the IAEA in dealing with Iran and hears from former nuclear inspectors, ex-Whitehouse officials, diplomats and experts. Is the Agency up to the job of preventing states from acquiring the bomb?

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

With growing concern over Iran's nuclear intentions, is the UN watchdog up to the job?

Reporter: Shane Harrison

Producers: Fergus Hewison and Surya Elango

Technical Producer: Sue Stonestreet

Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

Immigration is now centre stage in Irish politics after unprecedented rioting in Dublin.

An unprecedented night of rioting in Dublin has placed immigration centre stage in Irish politics. Is Ireland now at a turning point?

~File On 4 tells the story behind the killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.

Allan Urry reports from the communities already hardest hit by the rise in unemployment.

Rachel Stonehouse speaks to the family of one man who died after waiting nearly 11 hours for an ambulance and the wife who desperately tried to keep her husband alive after an ambulance failed to turn up on time.

She goes out on shift with hard pressed paramedics and sees the steps which are being taken to try to reduce delays in handing over patients at hospital - blamed as one of the main factors behind poor response times.

In August alone, 138,000 hours were lost to handover delays in England. That equates to nearly 150 patients who could not be attended by an ambulance every hour of every day in that month.

The government says it is committed to easing pressure on the ambulance service - by discharging more patients in hospitals, increasing the number of 999 call handlers and creating more beds.

Reporter: Rachel Stonehouse

Producer: Paul Grant

Research: Scott Hesketh

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Editor: Carl Johnston

Twenty-four hours on the front line of the ambulance crisis.

Simon Cox investigates the global trade in stolen artefacts and traces smuggling routes through Turkey and Lebanon and onto the international antiquities market.

He hears concerns that dealers and collectors are not doing enough to verify the provenance of ancient works of art and asks whether the authorities in the UK and elsewhere are doing enough to prevent the trade.

Why, for example, does the UK remain the most significant military power not to have ratified a UN convention to protect cultural property during armed conflict?

Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Paul Grant.

Is Islamic State profiting from the global trade in antiquities looted from Syria?

More and more British victims of organised sexual abuse are being referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) - the government's support pathway for victims of trafficking - following high profile sexual exploitation cases in Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford.

But charities are warning that British victims are less likely to be given access to safehouses, legal aid and counselling.

~File On 4 hears the story of a young woman who has been raped hundreds of times since she was schoolgirl - and is still being abused despite going to the police and the Home Office for help. 'Isobel' says she has been consistently let down by the police and the Home Office who have failed to give her the support she needs to escape her abusers - causing her to be re-trafficked in recent weeks.

The Human Trafficking Foundation says victims like Isobel are being failed by the NRM and that it was designed for foreign victims of trafficking seeking asylum and has not adapted to cater for the growing number of British victims.

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

Reporter: Annabel Deas

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Editor: Carl Johnston

Concerns British victims of abuse are less likely to get help than foreign nationals.

Jon Holmes has always known he was adopted, but was never very interested in searching for his birth parents until results of a recent DNA test proved he was of Irish heritage and his curiosity was piqued.

A large folder arrives from Warwickshire County Council and slowly Jon begins to unpick the story of his life and the world he was born into. As secrets of Jon's past are revealed, a Parliamentary Report by the Committee on Human Rights is published detailing shocking and vivid accounts of mothers being forced into giving up their babies by a society that outcast and shamed them at every turn.

What will Jon discover about his own family? What truths will he uncover as he speaks to mothers forced into handing their newborns over, as well as fellow adoptees about the damaging and traumatic culture he was born into?

Government has always denied any responsibility and is refusing demands for an apology, but is that really the case?

As Jon slowly finds out more about his own past, he also investigates the impact of this era and asks where does responsibility for this societal culture li

Producer: Ben Robinson

Reporter: Alys Harte

Editor: Carl Johnston

An investigation into software introduced in criminal courts that sources say is 'unsafe'.

Now 36 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have been established with the aim of supporting economic growth and innovation and encouraging a network of Enterprise Zones. But some experts remain sceptical. They claim that the policy has failed to put business interests first and that in some parts of the country it has been hijacked by local politicians. Others complain that areas of deprivation have been overlooked in favour of more affluent neighbours. There is also concern that the strategy is not implementing the government's policy of localism.

Can LEPs deliver the economic fruits they promise? Or will some just fizzle out, as one insider fears? Gerry Northam reports.

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane

Editor: David Ross.

Can the government's strategy to boost local enterprise recover from a 'chaotic' start?

With homes increasingly taking care of those with more complex needs such as dementia and other mental health disorders, are staff able to cope with some who have challenging behaviour?

~File On 4 has found evidence that some residents are suffering serious assaults by others living in the same home. Some have died from their injuries. Allan Urry investigates the unsolved killing of one dementia patient.

Are workers skilled enough to recognise and deal with aggression, before it becomes violent, and should the NHS and local authorities be doing more to support them?

When the perpetrators themselves often have little understanding of what they have done due to the nature of their illness-are they also being let down? The programme reveals failures in the system that could have cost lives.

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: Emma Forde

Editor: Gail Champion.

Are care homes able to protect frail and vulnerable elderly residents from violence?

It follows a long history of horror stories about major high street names leaving suppliers and sub-contractors out of pocket because of delays in settling accounts.

Figures produced by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills revealed that 85 per cent of small and medium sized businesses said they had experienced late payment in the last two years and that, in total, there was £30bn outstanding to them.

But File on 4 has found that it's not just in private business that serious problems are occurring.

The programme speaks to business owners who say that that ineffective rules and sanctions have left them badly out of pocket on contracts undertaken in the public sector.

Local authorities, the NHS and other Government departments have strict rules about how long they should take to pay their contractors.

But Jenny Chryss reveals how some small firms are having to cut back on staff because bills still aren't being settled promptly.

And she reveals how big contractors who do get paid on time, often delay before passing the money down the supply chain.

So are critics right when they say the Government's proposed new measures still aren't enough to deal with the problem?

Reporter: Jenny Chryss Producer: Emma Forde.

Will new government measures help small companies being crippled by late-paid bills?

~File On 4 spent several months recording at Ingol Community Primary in Preston. It's in one of the most deprived areas in England; more than half of their pupils are on pupil premium - additional state funding aimed at closing the attainment gap between poorer pupils and their peers - but that's not their only challenge.

This school is going to exceptional lengths to make sure families survive the cost of living crisis this winter, all while battling unprecedented pressure on the school's own finances. Will they be able to make ends meet and still provide all this extra help for families?

Reporter: Alys Harte

Producer: Ben Robinson

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

The story of one primary school on the front line of the cost of living crisis.

The cladding scandal has highlighted just how few rights leaseholders have when it comes to what happens to the buildings they live in. Felicity Hannah discovers there are many other issues they face.

A change in planning law means freeholders can now build extra apartments on top of blocks of flats without having to get planning permission. While such developments could bring in millions of pounds for landlords, the leaseholders can't object and in some cases could see the value of their homes plummet. Felicity speaks to residents who say one such development has turned their lives into a nightmare

Other leaseholders have been left reeling after their council landlord landed them with estimated bills of over £100,000 for improvements to their homes. Under the rules, the homeowners can't challenge the costs and some fear they could have to sell up.

Many people are now asking: is the current leasehold system fit for purpose?

Reporter: Felicity Hannah

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion

Leaseholders say they need more protection. Is the current system letting them down?

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

Research: Sajid Iqbal and Ben Robinson

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

Recent tensions between sections of the Hindu and Muslim communities in Leicester.

The UK has some of the strictest firearm laws in the world. So as some criminals struggle to obtain genuine guns, they're now getting blank-firing weapons converted into deadly weapons. As reporter Adrian Goldberg discovers how easy it is, gun campaigners call for tighter regulations around the manufacture and sale of blank firing weapons.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Paul Grant

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

The blank firing guns being turned into lethal weapons on the streets of the UK.

Handguns which fire blanks are being converted into deadly weapons by criminals. The National Ballistics Intelligence Service says they're now used more often than real handguns.

Guns which fire blanks are being converted into deadly weapons by criminals. The National Ballistics Intelligence Service says that for the first time, their use has overtaken the use of real guns. Adrian Goldberg meets victims of gun crime and explores the UK's trade in illegal firearms. He discovers how easy it is to buy a blank firing pistol which can be illegally converted into a lethal weapon in 20 minutes, and hears from a former gangster who warns the law has too many loopholes.

Guns which fire blanks are being converted into deadly weapons by criminals. The National Ballistics Intelligence Service says their use has now overtaken the use of real guns

~File On 4 tells the story behind the killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.

Julian O'Halloran examines the levels of pay awarded by some councils to their executives.

Half of England's water companies are now in the ownership of global investment funds. In many cases these corporate bodies are run and financed from abroad behind closed doors. They use a web of companies some in off-shore tax havens to provide a steady flow of dividends to their shareholders.

But is their mechanism for generating shareholder income at the expense of the customers who are looking for lower bills and sustained investment in their water supply?

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

As water company bills rise, Lesley Curwen investigates where the money goes.

Government incentives - including stamp duty and inheritance tax breaks - mean that more ordinary UK investors are opting for the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Set up in 1995 to allow smaller companies to raise funds, AIM is a less-regulated alternative to its big brother, the main London Stock Exchange.

But it is no stranger to controversy.

Once labelled a 'casino' by a senior US regulator due to its lax regulation, the market has been hit by a series of recent high profile scandals.

File on Four asks if this light-touch regulation poses a hidden risk for shareholders and if unscrupulous businesses are exploiting AIM to rip off ordinary British investors?

Producer: Alys Harte

Reporter: Simon Cox.

Is the UK's alternative investment market, known as 'little brother', open to fraud?

Image credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

Reporters: Georgia Coan and Paul Kenyon

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Production team: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

Editor: Carl Johnston

*Since this episode of File on 4 was originally broadcast, lawyers acting for Andrew Tate have said that he denies all the allegations made against him in the programme.

A British woman talks about her relationship with controversial influencer Andrew Tate.

Hot spot policing and what they call ‘immediate justice' will be trialled in towns and cities in an attempt to curb the problem.

What is it like to live in a community that experiences antisocial behaviour year-in, year-out? And what do the people who live there think needs to be done?

This is the story of one community marred by antisocial behaviour - and their fight for better.

Reporter: Alys Harte

Producers: Vicky Carter and Surya Elango

Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

Producer: Rob Cave

Are court backlogs creating miscarriages of justice? Helen Grady investigates.

~File On 4 research shows that the number of seriously mentally unwell prisoners denied a transfer to hospital has tripled in the past decade, leaving hundreds of desperately unwell people living in deeply unsuitable conditions.

Reporter: Annabel Deas

Producers: Jim Booth, Tom Wall

Editor: Nicola Addyman

For details of organisations that can provide help and support with mental health, self-harm and feelings of despair, visit the BBC Action Line.

Mental health & Self-harm: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm

Suicide / Emotional distress https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/information-and-support-suicide-emotional-distress

Nearly half of seriously mentally ill prisoners denied the hospital treatment they need.

Allan Urry investigates recent cases which raise questions about the quality of care delivered by some temporary staff. Should an agency doctor have better assessed a poorly surgical patient on his ward who died a short time later from a post -operative bleed? The programme also asks how well the agency sector is regulated following the revelation that a partly-qualified doctor was able to treat more than 3000 patients after lying about his qualifications.

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: David Lewis.

How safe are we in the hands of the growing number of agency staff at NHS hospitals?

Allan Urry investigates claims that not enough is being done by the UK to tackle the laundering of corrupt assets or to assist nations who ask for help in getting their money back. The programme also hears complaints that British law enforcement is refusing to investigate cases.

Reporter: Allan Urry

Producer: David Lewis.

Is the UK doing enough to tackle corruption and prevent money laundering in the capital?

Four months on, File on 4 pieces together his last known movements - speaking to his family and friends to try and understand more about what happens when someone goes missing overseas without a trace.

Reporter: Rachel Stonehouse

Producer: Alys Harte

Editor: Carl Johnston

Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Production Team: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

What happened to rugby star and X-Factor contestant Levi Davis, who vanished in Spain?

The service provides a lifeline for some of society's most vulnerable people to help them navigate places like hospitals, social services and courts.

But reporter Matthew Hill hears allegations the service is seriously failing those who need it most - with tragic consequences.

Data obtained exclusively by File on 4 has revealed over the past five years at least 80 babies have died or suffered serious brain injuries in NHS maternity units in England, where interpreting and communication problems due to language difficulties, were a contributing factor.

The programme also hears from an alleged victim of serious sexual abuse who says she was unable to give police an accurate account of her ordeal because the interpreter was so poor.

Campaigners claim huge disparities in the levels of qualifications required in public service organisations and poor rates of pay have caused an exodus of qualified interpreters, which they claim is putting some of society's most vulnerable people at risk of harm.

Reporter: Matthew Hill

Producers: Ben Robinson and Surya Elango

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Production Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

Editor: Carl Johnston

Public service interpreting service accused of failing people who don't speak English.

Public service interpreting provides a lifeline for people who don't speak English but campaigners claim it is failing society's most vulnerable people - with tragic consequences.

Many find themselves selling drugs in a strange town. Trapped, too scared to leave. Increasingly, when police raid the ‘traphouses' where the drugs are held, they're finding girls. But how many young women are caught in the county lines? Some are being recruited online for their ‘clean skins' - a lack of a criminal or gang connection - so they're less likely to be known to police and stopped. Others are used to launder money or facilitate travel and accommodation.

The focus on boys working for the lines means girls have often been overlooked. Police chiefs guess 10 to 15% of children involved are girls. But they admit they have no real idea of the number of girls trapped in this violent world.

~File On 4 hears the female view from the county line, told by girls and women who've lived the life and witnessed serious violence. They reveal the particular reasons gangs want girls involved, as county lines become more sophisticated. Girls are less likely to be stopped, or undergo intimate searches by police. They are trapped through sexual violence and threats to kill. But with few projects offering specialist support to female members of county lines, are girls more at risk of being dragged back into the gangs?

Reporter, Jane Deith

Producer, Emma Forde

Editor, Carl Johnston

Image credit; cindygoff\Getty

Lost on the Line: The county lines drugs gangs recruiting girls

The leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain has warned that without urgent action, his religion could face an 'avalanche' of historic cases similar to the ones which have swamped the Roman Catholic church. Already, several other abusers whose crimes remained undetected for decades have been brought to court.

How can parents be sure their children are safe in unregulated madrassas where no-one ensures proper criminal record checks are made on staff and volunteers? And should the ban on corporal punishment in schools be extended to cover madrassas when some children still face physical punishment?

Fran Abrams investigates.

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Are children at risk of abuse in Britain's unregulated madrassa schools?

Jenny Cuffe examines concerns in France both about the rise of Islamist extremism and the tough action the authorities are taking in response. Last October, police uncovered bomb making equipment following a grenade attack on a Jewish butchers in Paris. Eight months earlier, extremist Mohamed Merah killed three soldiers and a rabbi and three children outside a Jewish school in Toulouse. Meanwhile more than 100 imams deemed to be dangerous have been deported in the last ten years and several more are currently under threat of being expelled.

The programme also examines the threat to the UK. Jihadist groups in North Africa have warned that they will target supporters of the French action in Mali. The British Government is currently seeking to deport a number of Algerian terror suspects and authorities are also investigating reports that a British man has been arrested trying to make his way to join jihadists fighting in Mali.

Presenter: Jenny Cuffe

Producer: Paul Grant.

Does Europe face a new terror threat after military action in Mali? Jenny Cuffe reports.

So who are the people behind these often anonymous attacks? Journalist Sali Hughes has been a target of trolls herself. She sets out to find what motivates them and how they justify their actions. She speaks to other women who have been targeted and hears about the devastating impact it can have on people's lives. With a proposed online harms bill not now due until next year, she investigates what social media and other platforms are doing to tackle the issue and what individuals can do to try to stop the abuse

Journalist Sali Hughes goes on a personal journey to discover what motivates online trolls

The number of so called 'historic abuse cases' making their way through the coruts has increased in recent years following changes in the law that make it easier to bring them to trial and a greater willingness on behalf of victims to come forward.

These are among the most difficult cases the justice system handles given the highly sensitive nature of the allegations being made and the often lengthy gap between the events in question and the prosecution. Many cases now turn on one person's word against another and therefore rely heavily on the quality of memory evidence each side can bring.

But even the memory experts are divided on how the court process should assess memory evidence. Whist many victims never forget their abuse, some psychologists say people can genuinely block out or forget abuse and then remember it in detail later in life. But others warn of 'false memory syndrome' and claim that in some cases allegations are wrongly based on ideas that have arised during therapy or from third party experiences which complainants adopt as their own.

In this week's File on 4, Jackie Long examines concerns from across the criminal justice system - from lawyers who claim the system is creating 'a new genre of miscarriages of justice' because defendants cannot get a fair trial, from victims who say their long-held memories are being branded as false in court and from psychologists who question how well equipped our courts are to consider such evidence.

So how much do we know about how memory works? And is the courtroom the right place to get to the truth?

Producer Sally Chesworth.

Can memory evidence alone deliver justice in sex abuse cases when claims go back decades?

The 34 year old then fled on his motorbike before he lost control and fatally crashed on a winding tree-lined road. His family had made repeated requests to mental health services for help as they saw his condition deteriorate. But they say no help was forthcoming and days later he killed 42-year-old James, a popular artist and children's author. Alex Sartain's family say the mechanic suffered paranoid schizophrenia and had become acutely unwell in the run-up to the killing.

~File On 4 investigates whether mental health support is always available when people need it most. And reporter Paul Connolly hears concerns that mental health professionals are not always quick enough to act on evidence a person suffering severe mental illness may be intending to harm others - with tragic consequences.

Producer Ben Robinson

Editor Carl Johnston

Are people with severe mental illnesses being failed when they need help most?

So, two years on what progress has been made? And what more needs to be done to help patients in crisis?

Adrian talks to former NHS executive Lord Crisp, nurses and the families of those who have lost their loved ones as a result of failures in the system. Are mental health patients still regarded as equal but somehow different to those with physical ailments.

Radio 4's investigative current affairs documentary series.

Jane Deith and Jordan Dunbar investigate the rogue operators exploiting the long wait for mental health services on the NHS. The explosion in unregulated online recovery programmes has led to claims of people paying thousands of pounds for treatment by unqualified practitioners which has made their anxiety worse - not better. File on 4 investigates one company guaranteeing to cure anxiety in children. And we ask - why isn't the law protecting people who seek help online?

Mental health profiteers: The dark world of online anxiety 'cures'.

Credits:

Reporter: Adam Eley

Producer: Emma Forde

Editor: Nicola Addyman

Adam Eley investigates concerns over specialist mental health rehabilitation units.

Reporter: Claire Bolderson

Producer: Imogen Walford

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 investigates the impact of coronavirus on the nation's mental health.

Can a new focus on what has traditionally been dubbed a 'Cinderella service' reverse the impact of years of cuts?

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Gail Champion.

Are vulnerable patients dying after being discharged from mental health care too soon?

Critics say the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body charged with examining potential wrongful convictions, lacks teeth and needs to be thoroughly reformed.

Are they right?

Allan Urry examines cases in which prisoners, campaigners and lawyers say the CCRC doesn't do enough for those who continue to protest their innocence.

Should the Commission be making more use of the latest DNA techniques to re-examine verdicts which relied on circumstantial evidence?

And why did the CCRC twice refuse to pursue the case of a man who spent 17 years in prison for a serious sex crime he didn't commit?

Producer: Rob Cave.

Righting Wrongs: How effective is the system for investigating miscarriages of justice?

Reporter: Michael Cowan

Producer: Jim Booth

Editor: Nicola Addyman

Additional research: Wil Crisp and Sophie Eastaugh

If you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

The consequences for victims and those accused of crimes when police lose evidence.

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Emma Forde.

Allan Urry investigates why the NHS is running short of some life-saving medicines.

~File On 4 investigates what's being done to find them and why so many have disappeared.

Reporter: Livvy Haydock

Producer: Kate West

Researcher: Nathan Standley

Editor: Carl Johnston

Image credit: Ben Stansall\Getty

What happened to the 200 migrant children who went missing from hotels in the UK?

Police estimate that there are tens of thousands of victims of modern slavery in the United Kingdom, being forced to work and live in inhumane conditions with little hope of escape.

Investigators whose job it is to protect workers from exploitation reveal to File on 4 that the care industry has become their top priority in the past 18 months.

Datshiane Navanayagam finds out why and asks whether the systems in place to support victims are working.

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Producers: Matt Pintus and Phil Marzouk

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Digital Producers: Melanie Stewart-Smith and Georgia-Mae Browne

Technical Producer: Cameron Ward

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 investigates modern slavery in the UK workplace.

As a child, you would expect that social services and other authorities would find you a warm and safe place to live.

What you wouldn't expect is to be put somewhere on your own, in the cold, and at risk from serious harm.

~File On 4 tells the shocking story of one teenager's experience when he found himself without a roof over his head.

His mum tells the programme he would contact her in the middle of the night, depressed and lonely; `He would text me saying I'm cold, I'm hungry`. She says the fight to get her son the care and support that he needed has left them broken.

We explore the impact on both his physical and mental health and ask why he was let down? Is his case one of a kind? Or are other local authorities failing in their duty to provide the right care and support for homeless young people?

Reporter: Emma Forde

Producer: Matthew Chapman

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit; Photofusion\Getty

Are homeless teenagers being let down by the very people meant to protect them?

From making a meal, to help getting out of bed or having a shower, domiciliary carers provide a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of elderly and vulnerable people. But what happens when things go wrong and carers inflict serious abuse and neglect on the people who depend on them?

Lesley Curwen speaks to the families of elderly people who have been neglected in some cases left for days without proper medication or attention to personal hygiene - with devastating results.

Experts say cuts to local authority care funding, unmanageable workloads and poor training are contributing to the toll of abuse. So how can families be assured that their family member is in safe hands?

And after File on 4 previously uncovered evidence of widespread sex abuse in care homes, we ask whether enough is being done to protect the most vulnerable people in society in their own homes.

Reporter: Lesley Curwen

Producer: Ben Robinson.

An investigation into the state of home care services in the UK.

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

~File On 4 investigates the collapse of one of the NHS's biggest healthcare contracts.

The planned savings form part of the £20 billion in NHS efficiency savings the Government has pledged to make by 2014.

There's plenty of scope for savings. A recent survey found one Hospital Trust bought 177 different types of surgical gloves. Across the NHS, hospitals buy more than 1,700 different kinds of canula. Rationalising this medical shopping list could free-up £500 million a year for investment in patient care, the National Audit Office estimates.

But can the increasingly complex NHS procurement system in England deliver the major savings the Government wants to see?

Critics say Foundation Hospital Trusts increasingly make their own buying decisions, with little or no national co-ordination. Inside hospitals, managers tasked with purchasing millions of pounds worth of equipment often lack the authority or the support of their superiors to drive through savings. Meanwhile new private sector companies are moving in to take over the purchase and supply of NHS equipment.

Will the Government's plans for a more devolved health service help or hinder the drive to save taxpayers' money. Jenny Cuffe investigates.

Producer: Andy Denwood.

Does the NHS spend too much on bandages and syringes? Jenny Cuffe investigates.

In Scotland the waiting time data has been called into question after a hospital trust was exposed for manipulating the figures in order to hit its targets. There's now an investigation to see if the practice has become widespread.

In England the Health Secretary has hailed latest statistics showing a fall in the number of people waiting for treatment as a great achievement. However there's evidence which suggests the pressure to meet waiting list targets is leading to gaming of the system.

Jane Deith investigates.

Producer Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Jane Deith asks if the official figures for hospital waiting times can be trusted.

The Department of Health uses a system called Payment by Results to try to ensure better patient care is delivered more efficiently. However Allan Urry hears from hospitals which say they're being treated unfairly and losing millions because of perverse tariffs which short-change them. Critics say the payments system is no longer fit for purpose.

So how deep is the financial crisis facing our hospitals? Could budget cuts and the rising costs of admissions push some of them over the edge?

PRODUCER: EMMA FORDE

EDITOR: DAVID ROSS.

With attention on A&E, is there a bigger problem in the way hospitals are funded?

Producer: Paul Grant.

What lies behind plans to outsource NHS cancer care in parts of the Midlands?

But File on 4 asks if the growth in the supported living sector is really providing the happy, safe and secure homes it was meant to.

While the NHS has struggled to get its money into the hands of the councils who provide supported living, councils have gone their own way; commissioning services from care companies and homes from private landlords to give learning disabled adults their own front doors and their own independence.

But with little in the way of inspection and councils under budgetary constraints, File on 4 asks if the push to build supported living risks repeating the mistakes of the past, with some of the country's most vulnerable people housed in institutions far from public scrutiny.

Reporter: Claire Bolderson

Producer: Rob Cave

Editor: Gail Champion

(Photo Credit: MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

~File On 4 looks at the growth in supported living homes for learning disabled adults.

Reporter: Fran Abrams

Producer: Emma Forde.

Fran Abrams reports on the shortage of secure places for children at risk.

As the cost of living crisis continues to increase the strain on families, a record 142,000 children in England are homeless and living in what should be short term temporary accommodation.
Children are being consigned to B&Bs and hotels, former office blocks - even shipping containers – some without a bed of their own, living among rats and cockroaches - conditions the children’s commissioner has condemned as Dickensian.
With the help of young people and their families, File on 4 investigates how temporary accommodation - meant to be a short term safety net - has become a trap some children can’t escape.

Reporter: Jane Deith
Producer: Nicola Dowling
Technical Producer: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Jordan King
Editors: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston

Image: Imgorthand via Getty Images

No place to call home: A child's eye view of life in temporary accommodation.

Award-winning current affairs documentary series

As the cost of living crisis continues to increase the strain on families, a record 142,000 children in England are homeless and living in what should be short term temporary accommodation.
Children are being consigned to B&Bs and hotels, former office blocks - even shipping containers – some without a bed of their own, living among rats and cockroaches - conditions the children’s commissioner has condemned as Dickensian.
With the help of young people and their families, File on 4 investigates how temporary accommodation - meant to be a short term safety net - has become a trap some children can’t escape.

Reporter: Jane Deith
Producer: Nicola Dowling
Technical Producer: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Jordan King
Editors: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston

Image: Imgorthand via Getty Images

No place to call home: A child's eye view of life in temporary accommodation.

Award-winning current affairs documentary series

At the heart of the peace process is a commitment to bring truth and justice to the bereaved. But many families say they're still waiting.

The peace process also promised to bring Protestants and Catholics closer together. But, in some communities still divided by peace walls, there remains a deep mistrust of their neighbours.

So have politicians failed in their promise to deal with the legacy of the past?

And how much do we really know about the deals that have already been done to protect people from prosecution?

BBC correspondent Chris Buckler investigates.

Producer: David Lewis.

How well is Northern Ireland dealing with the legacy of 30 years of sectarian violence?

Miriam O'Reilly investigates the no-win, no-fee lawyers who bring claims against the NHS.

Families of the deceased say it was due to poor safety standards and the slow introduction of protective measures. Transport for London say they were just following government guidance. But with bus drivers becoming more vociferous and the death rate too high to ignore, BBC File on 4 tries to uncover the truth behind the shocking statistics.

The programme hears from bus drivers across the capital who describe what was really happening on the ground, as well as the families of the deceased, and a TfL insider who alleges systemic problems with health and safety and says a Royal Commission is now needed to get to the bottom of what happened.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Annabel Deas

Editor: Carl Johnston

Bus driver deaths during the Covid pandemic.

Allan Urry investigates Network Rail's woes as pressure mounts to deliver £24 billion of infrastructure improvements.

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Rob Cave.

Why is Network Rail struggling with its multibillion-pound plan to upgrade our railways?

When the tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989, the resulting oil spill became the worst in American history. Fisheries were closed and the local economy was undermined. Many said such a disaster should never again befall American coastal communities. Tankers were obliged to be constructed with a protective second skin, and the law was changed to give polluters the clear responsibility to pay for oil spills.

More than a hundred million gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf and a growing chorus of critics is asking why more preparations were not made for such a tragedy? Gerry Northam reports.

Producer Andy Denwood

Editor David Ross.

Could lessons from past disasters have prevented BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Jo Casserly

Editor: Carl Johnston

Many hospitals are crumbling and have huge backlogs of required maintenance work. It affects patients - sometimes life-saving operations are being cancelled due to lack of capacity - or practical problems such as leaks or faulty air conditioning.

Money from capital budgets has been used to plug gaps in day to day spending - meaning an ever growing black hole of building work is backing up. So where to get the money?

The Government is adopting plans which would encourage NHS trusts to sell off spare land and try to get money for new buildings from the commercial sector.

But private finance initiatives are no longer an option. Trust deficits make borrowing difficult and hospital leaders say its difficult to get access to the money they need - like wading through treacle, one says - because of perverse rules and regulations.

So how should we pay for much needed life support for our hospitals?

Reporter: Lesley Curwen

Producer: Rob Cave

Editor: Gail Champion.

Can the NHS afford to run and replace its ageing hospitals? Lesley Curwen investigates.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland issues of who makes decisions about the best interests of a person who can't make that decision themselves is covered by different laws. In practice, when the family or friends of a learning disabled person in Scotland don't agree with how their loved-one is being cared for or treated, the law makes it easier for the dispute to go to court, with the parents or siblings more likely to be given guardianship. More than 2,700 families exercised this right in 2018-19.

Northern Ireland is waiting for its own legislation to come into force, who makes decisions for learning disabled adults is governed by common law and is a more informal process.

Campaigners say poor training, lack of understanding of the law and shrinking budgets mean too often the legitimate concerns about care for people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health problems are being ignored. Claire Bolderson investigates.

Producer: Rob Cave

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit: Katarzyna Bialasiewicz

Who really decides what care is best for those who can't make their own decisions?

~File On 4 investigates the true scale of child sexual grooming on social media.

Facing massive job cuts, will the Border Agency be able to protect the UK's frontiers?

Reporter Anna Cavell examines what's led to the increase in the prescribing of these powerful painkillers in the absence of good evidence to say they work in the long term - and investigates whether cynical marketing tactics by pharmaceutical companies could have helped to fuel the UK market.

As a government review into the growing problem of prescription drug addiction in England hits delays, we hear from those caught up in opioid fuelled addiction, as well as those tasked with helping people hooked on painkillers to come off them safely.

Producer: Alys Harte

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit: Getty images

Did marketing help fuel the UK's opioid addiction 'crisis'?

Producer: Paul Grant.

Is the NHS doing enough to combat the crisis in organ donations? Allan Urry investigates.

Many of these children will end up in 'alternative provision', sometimes known as pupil referral units (PRUs) - schools for kids that the mainstream can't handle.

But five years on from the Taylor Review, a report that found 'a flawed system' that failed to provide good education and accountability for 'some of the most vulnerable children in the country' - has anything really changed?

~File On 4 hears allegations of a system under pressure; of illegal exclusions, 'missing kids' and how some schools are controversially manipulating league tables through 'managed moves'.

We also hear from whistle-blowers from one school who claim an overburdened system and a rise of referrals of kids with extreme and complex needs have led to an increase in the use of physical restraint to manage escalating violent behaviour in classrooms.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Alys Harte.

An investigation into standards in pupil referral units for children excluded from school.

Together with The Guardian newspaper, File on 4 follows the trail of millions of pounds tainted by bribery and corruption. Piecing together key documents from the leak reveals how earnings from Unaoil - a company involved in the ‘world's biggest bribery scandal' - were invested into UK property on high streets as far apart as London and Aberdeen, Reading and the North East.

Why does the UK remain a go-to destination for some of the world's most tainted money? And why does it take a leak for the truth to be revealed about who's really invested in some of the country's prime property?

The Pandora Papers is an investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The documents have been shared with the Guardian, the BBC and other media partners around the world.

Further reporting on other stories arising from the Pandora Papers leak are available online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58780561

Reporter: Felicity Hannah

Producer: Anna Meisel

Additional Production: Kate West

Editor: Gail Champion

How money made from the 'world's biggest bribery scandal' ended up in UK property.

Using leaked documents obtained by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and working with the Consortium of Investigative Journalists, File on 4 delves into the records to find out how the rich use secretive tax regimes and corporate structures to divert money via the offshore jurisdiction of Mauritius.

Producer: Anna Meisel

Reporter: David Grossman

Editor: Gail Champion.

An investigation into international offshore finance.

The International Paralympic Committee has warned that some athletes are exaggerating their disability - known as intentional misrepresentation - in order to get into a more favourable class. It said this was in 'grave danger of undermining the credibility of the sport.

~File On 4 has spoken to athletes, parents and coaches who say they too are concerned the system is being abused. They claim less disabled athletes are being brought into sports in the quest for medals. Some athletes have decided to quit competing altogether as they no longer believe there is a level playing field. They claim more disabled athletes are being squeezed out of para competition.

The first ever athletes forum for the paralympic movement was held this summer. It too says there is a lack of trust about classification among competitors and called for greater transparency saying athletes should have the ability to raise concerns about fellow competitors.

Is doubt about the current system threatening trust in the paralympic movement?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Paul Grant.

Are some countries cheating the paralympic classification system in the pursuit of medals?

In this programme, we examine further claims of athletes exaggerating or even faking a disability to get ahead in para sports. We look at the case of an athlete where concerns have been raised after they competed in several different disability classifications.

A paralympic gold medallist tells File on 4 of his concerns that young athletes are being manipulated by coaches to think they are more disabled than they actually are in order to get them classified into a more favourable category.

The programme also hears claims that UK athletes cheered a competitor from a rival country because they believed one of their teammates was cheating. Such suspicions have grown in recent years, the programme is told.

Reporter Simon Cox speaks to a former international classifier - the people responsible for ensuring athletes are placed in the right category - who reveals how it is possible for classifiers to be fooled and the pressure placed on them to put athletes in the most disabled categories.

The concerns raised by the programme come as a report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee into sports governance which has examined classification in para sports is due to be published.

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion

Are some paralympic athletes gaming the classification system to win medals?

But when it comes to the medical treatment, are patients getting the same level of care? Are private patients just as safe as those in the NHS? And when things do go wrong, how willing is the private sector to admit to mistakes?

In this programme we hear from families whose loved ones died following surgery in a private hospital that was paid for by the NHS. The deaths reveal how some private hospitals have no emergency cover for when things go wrong.

To secure a contract with the NHS, private providers must deliver services to an equal standard of care. In this episode, File on 4 asks whether the NHS can be sure its patients are safe in private hospitals.

Photo credit - Getty Creative Images.

Reporter: Alistair Jackson

Producer: Kate West

Editor: Gail Champion

~File On 4 investigates standards of care in some UK private hospitals.

Investigating allegations that some companies are failing their pension fund obligations.

A leading city insider tells File On 4 that the price-reporting mechanism for oil is 'wide open to abuse

So are petrol prices being kept artificially high by hidden forces beyond the normal workings of supply and demand ?

Gerry Northam investigates and asks whether British regulators are proving slow to recognise the potential problem.

Producer: David Lewis.

Are petrol prices manipulated to keep them artificially high?

The coalition government describes some PFI contracts as 'ghastly' and wants some of this cash back. One cabinet minister says 'the people on the other side must have been laughing all the way to the bank'.

But, while public services are facing cuts, PFI payments are guaranteed under watertight contracts. So experts say the government can win only small amounts in rebates.

Much of the money has already gone offshore. Huge profits have been made by selling and reselling many contracts in a secretive 'secondary market' - with none of the proceeds returning to the taxpayer.

Gerry Northam investigates gaps in HM Treasury's knowledge of this trade and asks if PFI represents value for public money.

Producer: Rob Cave.

Have taxpayers lost billions of pounds in the secretive resale of PFI contracts?

Ministers insist more housing is needed, fuelling fears of greenfield sites being bulldozed. But as they begin to slim down bureaucracy to speed up development, how many more homes are actually getting built?

Under the localism agenda, communities are being told they'll get much more say about who builds what in their neighbourhood. But what happens if it's a waste incinerator or a power station? The programme reveals how local objections are likely to been given much less consideration.

Presenter Allan Urry

Producer: Rob Cave.

Allan Urry investigates the Government's radical changes to the planning system.

~File On 4 can reveal how an officer working for a force outside of London, who had multiple rape allegations against him, was given a job in the professional standards department, investigating complaints made against colleagues. We've discovered how complaints to police forces across England and Wales are being regularly dismissed, with many people resorting to legal action to get accountability and winning damages from the police in court.

~File On 4 also reveals how recent reforms to the complaints process have done little to improve accountability and restore public confidence.

Reporter: Hayley Mortimer

Producer: Tom Wall

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

How complaints against police forces in England and Wales are regularly dismissed.

In the Queen's Speech the Government confirmed its plans to overhaul the complaints system in order to restore public confidence. As part of the reform, Police and Crime Commissioners could be able to decide if they want to handle allegations against their local forces. The Commissioners themselves are divided on whether they want this additional role and critics say they would not have the resources to do it effectively.

So just what recourse do you have when you feel you've been dealt with unfairly by the police? And will the Home Office proposals make any difference? Claire Savage investigates.

Presenter: Claire Savage Producer: David Lewis.

Good cop? Bad cop? Reforming the police complaints process. Presented by Claire Savage.

Most of the new officers will be trained within the next two years after the Prime Minister, David Cameron, set aside £143m to boost the country's armed response capability.

But is it enough to meet the challenges they face?

The number of firearms officers fell from nearly seven thousand in 2009/10 to under six thousand in 2013/14.

And, despite the extra funding, the Police Federation is concerned the new firearms teams will have to come from existing staff. They say that will deplete the number of officers available for other duties.

BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw investigates - and he examines growing unease at the way in which those who discharge their weapons are dealt with.

Concern has been highlighted by the suspension and arrest of the officer suspected of shooting dead Jermaine Baker in Wood Green in December.

Police representatives tell the programme that while they expect their actions to be investigated, people will not come forward to train as firearms officers if they believe they will be treated like a criminal who fires an illegal weapon.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission acknowledges that firearms officers work in challenging circumstances but maintains that police shootings resulting in death or serious injury should be independently investigated.

So, can the system for holding them to account be improved?

Reporter: Danny Shaw Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Do the plans to recruit more armed police go far enough? Danny Shaw investigates.

The Court of Appeal Judge said it appeared to be 'a serious perversion of the course of justice,' and an investigation was launched into misconduct claims against four of the UK's most senior officers.

Now, as the report into the police investigation is finally released, File on 4 speaks to those at the centre of the saga. Will the family of Kevin Nunes will ever get the justice they seek, and what does the case tell us about police transparency and accountability?

Reporter: Phil Mackie

Producer: Laura Harmes.

Questions remain about alleged police misconduct in a 15-year-old murder investigation.

But critics -- including some British Pathologists -- point out that Excited Delirium is not recognised by the World Health Organisation and that there is a lack of valid research. Civil liberties organisations fear that the diagnosis might be employed to excuse improper use of restraint techniques by police.

For 'File on 4' Angus Stickler has travelled to the cocaine capital of the United States, Miami, where police and scientists are attempting to define and deal with the controversial condition.

And in England he speaks to families whose loved ones have died after being restrained by the police. Is Excited Delirium well-enough understood to be used by courts? And just how many people are dying while being restrained -- either in custody or while being arrested? Are the official figures reliable?

Producer: Andy Denwood.

Angus Stickler investigates deaths in police custody.

~File On 4 investigates a series of cases of alleged wrongdoing brought against the police by both members of the public and by serving officers. We look at some of the tactics police forces still appear to be using to avoid scrutiny, and we ask : despite the new measures, how much has really changed?

Reporter : Mark Gregory

Producer :Sally Chesworth

Editor: Gail Champion.

Are the police really open to scrutiny when people complain about misconduct?

Billions of pounds of dirty money is alleged to have passed through opaque UK companies in recent years, over 100 of them registered at the same Potters Bar address. Tim Whewell follows the trail of one company linked to the regime of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country for Russia four years ago after anti-corruption protests in Kiev's Maidan square.

Can new transparency requirements for British firms help find the people really behind the company?

Presenter: Tim Whewell

Producer: Simon Maybin

Editor: Gail Champion.

An investigation by BBC Radio 4's File on 4 programme has found that some waste-to-energy schemes are receiving public cash despite operating without planning approval. Their aim was to reduce harmful emissions and pollution, but there are mounting concerns that some schemes have exacerbated environmental harm. The energy regulator OFGEM is responsible for administering the waste-to-energy schemes. Are they doing enough to protect the public's money and has yet another green subsidy effectively back-fired?

Reporter: Lesley Curwen

Producer: David Lewis

Editor: Gail Champion

Are companies 'gaming' the system of green subsidies designed to reduce farm pollution?

Jenny Cuffe meets two doctors - one in rural Yorkshire, who is about to lose a quarter of his funding and does not know how he can keep his surgery doors open and the other struggling to cope with the volume of patients in her busy urban practice in Salford.

One in seven primary care practices in England reports having to make redundancies as a result of the Government spending squeeze.

Recruitment for new GPs is still to hit Government targets and more doctors are leaving general practice through retirement or to work abroad.

So are the promises of greater access to your GP really deliverable?

Is the family doctor an endangered species? Jenny Cuffe reports.

With so many infected and the BCG vaccine only 60% effective, a race is on to develop a better way of preventing TB. Hundreds of millions of public and philanthropic money has been poured into this quest. For researchers, the competition for this pot of money is fierce.

A new vaccine called MVA85A developed by scientists in Oxford as a booster to BCG was heralded as a possible solution. But when it was trialed on nearly 3000 infants in South Africa it didn't offer any further significant protection.

~File On 4 investigates the outcome of tests carried out on monkeys and asks to what extent animal trials are used to help decide whether to go on to test in humans.

How do regulators and ethics committees decide to give their approval and who is looking out for the people who volunteer to take part?

Reporter: Deborah Cohen

Producer: Paul Grant.

TB remains a killer disease, how effective are attempts to find a better vaccine?

In the first of a new series, BBC Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw meets recently released prisoners and families of those inside to hear about their safety fears.

And he talks to the Prison Officers Association about their concerns for the frontline members who they say are facing unprecedented levels of pressure and danger in a 'chaotic' system.

The Howard League for Penal Reform has used Ministry of Justice figures to calculate that around 40% of prison officer jobs have been cut - leaving inmates spending longer locked in their cells and less time preparing for their release.

Lawyers and campaigners tell File on 4 that overcrowding and gang activity are adding to a 'toxic mix' of problems leading to instability and tension.

Twenty five years after the prison system was shaken by a series of riots centring on Strangeways in Manchester, is a new crisis starting to unfold?

Reporter: Danny Shaw Producer: Sally Chesworth.

With serious assaults at a record high, is there a crisis unfolding in the prison system?

Perimeter security has been tightened, searches have been stepped up and new technology is being trialled as officers deal with the influx of new psychoactive substances, such as spice, and more 'traditional' banned drugs, including cannabis and heroin.

More widely, across England and Wales, the availability of drugs in prisons is posing huge challenges to their stability, as well as the health and safety of inmates and officers.

Some prisoners are so desperate to feed their addiction they secrete drugs inside their bodies to by-pass security; others persuade or pressurise friends and family to bring them in.

The demand for contraband is so great that a lucrative trade has developed behind bars, co-ordinated by criminal gangs who use threats, violence and exploitation.

In some cases, vulnerable people are coerced into smuggling drugs, acting as 'mules', at great risk to themselves. Offenders who've been let out on licence have been known deliberately to breach the conditions of their release, so they can take supplies into jail when they're sent back there. Some drug-dependent prisoners rack up massive debts which their families are expected to pay off. The BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw meets those who've got caught up in the sophisticated markets in operation inside the system and reaching out into communities.

The Government has promised to tackle the problem by improving intelligence, investing in new serious and organised crime teams and separating ringleaders from other prisoners.

But ministers are also being urged to improve provision for those who are in the grip of addiction by offering treatment, rehabilitation and opportunities when they leave custody.

Reporter: Danny Shaw

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Editor: Gail Champion.

Prison, drugs and debts - who's paying the price of the thriving drug trade in our jails?

Producer: Emma Forde.

Did private equity takeovers play a role in the collapse of some major high street names?

In today's economic climate, does PFI represent value for money for hard-pressed taxpayers?

Michael Robinson asks if the Private Finance Initiative represents value for money.

~File On 4 analyses the case of Damien Bendall who killed his pregnant partner Terri Harris and three children in 2021 while on probation. The Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell has said Bendall's supervision `fell far below the quality that the public has a right to expect`. The programme hears from the families of Bendall's victims and from those probation officers on the front line who say the service is at breaking point.

Reporter: Danny Shaw

Producer: Fergus Hewison

Assistant Producer: Patrick Kiteley

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

Is the Probation Service doing enough to protect the public and help offenders?

There have been allegations the system is slow, bureaucratic and open to abuse. In some cases lawyers are appointed to oversee people's financial arrangements - and families claim they charge excessive fees. In other cases, it's a relative who's appointed as a deputy - but are there adequate safeguards to ensure they're not misappropriating the money? Fran Abrams investigates cases where the system has left some vulnerable people worse off.

Producer: Samantha Fenwick.

How well does the Court of Protection safeguard the finances of the old and vulnerable?

Is Britain's system of public protection from violent offenders still among the best?

Public bodies of all kinds now face massive budget cuts and are under pressure to deliver savings. As a result, across the country, public services of all kinds are now up for tender in the hope they can be delivered more cheaply by the private sector.

With relatively straightforward things such as refuse collection, there's general agreement that experience to date shows outsourcing can work, and can save the taxpayer money.

But with complex services in education, health or transport, the picture is far less clear.

Michael Robinson investigates the outsourcing of these complex public services and uncovers another, as yet unreported, example of huge profits being earned by major private companies at taxpayers' expense.

Producer: Rob Cave.

After the West Coast rail debacle, Michael Robinson investigates government outsourcing.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Vicky Carter

Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Production Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

Editor: Carl Johnston

Details of organisations offering information and support with mental health or feelings of despair are available at:

www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

People experiencing mental health crisis facing more harm from criminal justice system.

Police forces in England and Wales are in the middle of an unprecedented recruitment drive, to add 20,000 new officers by March 2023, providing an opportunity to improve diversity. There is work to do, as Home Office figures for 2019, seen for the first time by File on 4, reveal many specialist positions continue to be dominated by white officers. There were only two ethnic minority officers among 184 in the mounted police; 15 out of 734 dog handlers; and 11 among 426 detectives in special investigations teams.

~File On 4 asks whether the way black and Asian officers are currently treated is likely to be a barrier to attracting suitable candidates and if the changes will affect representation at senior ranks, where there are very few ethnic minority officers. The programme reveals data, collected by the National Black Police Association, that ethnic minority officers represent 14% of all officers under misconduct investigation and over 20% of inquiries that had progressed to a misconduct meeting or gross misconduct hearing, despite representing less than 7% of all officers. File on 4 hears from ex police inspector Mark Dias who was put under surveillance illegally by Cleveland Police and found to be the victim of racial discrimination.

Reporter: Danny Shaw

Producer: Oliver Newlan

Development Producer: Jane Andrews

Editor: Carl Johnston

Racism in the police: do the UK police treat black and ethnic minority officers fairly?

Presenter: Jenny Cuffe

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

What threat does a growing fundamentalist branch of Islam pose to Arab Spring countries?

The sector has warned long-term Government funding cuts and the cost of improving homes to meet new fire safety laws, have now been compounded by high inflation, to create a perfect storm of pressure.

But is it vulnerable tenants who are paying the price?

~File On 4 investigates record complaints about social housing providers and hears allegations of 'degrading' treatment by some social housing providers.

Reporter Iona Bain also uncovers failings by a housing provider which led to raw sewage flooding into residents' flats.

Reporter: Iona Bain

Producer: Ben Robinson

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Clare Fordham

An investigation uncovers allegations of degrading treatment by social housing providers.

The Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, says the reforms are necessary to cut reoffending rates and save money which will be ploughed back into providing support to all prisoners who have served less than 12 months.

But opponents claim the reforms are being rushed in and will put the public at risk.

Last month, it was announced the plans have been delayed. They were due to come into effect in May but the start date has been put back until July.

The new private providers will only be paid in full if they achieve a reduction in reoffending. The programme speaks to one of the companies bidding for the contracts which says payment by results will lead to innovation and visits a prison which says it is already achieving success in a pilot scheme working with prisoners serving under 12 months.

But Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw also talks to probation staff about their fears for the future of partnership working and hears why some of them are threatening to quit the service.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Are government reforms to probation on track and will they work? Danny Shaw investigates.

Producer: Andy Denwood.

Is there a conflict of interest when public servants take private sector jobs?

As police renew their efforts to identify more of Sinaga's victims, File on 4 has been given exclusive access to those at the centre of the police investigation and hears from many of those who knew him and who have never spoken before. The programme hears how how the softly spoken and highly intelligent student played Good Samaritan to lure victims to his flat in central Manchester - then plied them with drinks laced with the date rape drug GHB. How one man fought off Sinaga and called police, triggering the biggest rape inquiry in British history. The programme also hears about the moment the police realised they were dealing with a monster when they accessed his phone and discovered a catalogue of videos he'd made of himself abusing his unconscious victims. Police then painstakingly trawled through hours and hours of video and numerous trophies found in Sinaga's flat to help identify his victims. Having never shown any remorse for his crimes, the Court of Appeal is now reviewing Sinaga's sentence. So will he become the UK's first non-homicide criminal to die behind bars?

If you have information about this case you believe may be of interest to police you can contact them here: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/06GMP19V24-PO2

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can access support via the following organisations:

St Mary's Rape Crisis Centre in Manchester provides a range of support and services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to people of all ages who have been sexually abused, assaulted or raped, whether this happened in the past or more recently. https://www.stmaryscentre.org

Safeline provides support and counselling for survivors of sexual abuse or rape. Phone: 0808 8005005 (Male support) www.safeline.org.uk

Survivors UK run the National Male Survivors Online Helpline and Webchat Service for men who have experienced sexual abuse either as a child or an adult. www.survivorsuk.org

The Survivors Trust provides support and signposting for women, men and children who are survivors of rape, sexual violence or childhood sexual abuse. Phone: 0808 801 0818 www.thesurvivorstrust.org

Samaritans is available for anyone struggling to cope and provide a safe place to talk 24 hours a day. Phone: 116 123 Email: jo@samaritans.org www.samaritans.org

BBC Action Line: Sexual abuse and violence:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

How a 999 call from a Manchester flat led to the discovery of over 200 male rape victims.

Regulators around the world are looking at the way important financial benchmarks have been calculated. These are used to set the value of pension funds, investments and international contracts worth billions of pounds. Financial regulators in the UK, across Europe and in the US are investigating whether the benchmarks have been rigged to increase bank profits - and to short change their customers.

Banks are already receiving big fines over the LIBOR interest rate scandal but the focus is now shifting to the way prices in the foreign exchange, gold and interest rate swap markets have been set. Reporter Lesley Curwen assesses the evidence that banks have got together to manipulate the markets and asks what it means for the reputation of London as a global financial sector and public confidence in banking.

Producer: David Lewis.

Is a scandal bigger than Libor brewing for the banks? Did they rig other key markets?

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

Producer: Jim Booth

Editor: Carl Johnston

Is the gaming platform Roblox doing enough to stop children being exploited and groomed?

But were there crucial failings?

In an exclusive interview for File on 4, one of the police officers involved in the case claims that flaws in the way it was handled meant important witness evidence was dropped and some abusers were never prosecuted - leaving a new generation of girls potentially at risk and victims seriously let down.

Jane Deith also hears complaints that witnesses were left without adequate support to help them re-build their lives.

Earlier this month the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, published new guidelines for police and prosecutors in such cases. But have they come too late for many victims?

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Reporter: Jane Deith.

A police whistleblower claims last year's Rochdale child grooming case failed victims.

But are there sufficient roadside and on-site checks to detect safety breaches?

~File On 4 uncovers cases where unsafe vehicles and drivers were allowed to remain on the roads, despite known concerns.

So does the current system of regulation and punishment go far enough to deter rogue operators who drive some of the most dangerous vehicles on our roads?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: David Lewis.

An investigation into how lethal lorries posing a danger to the public remain on the roads

Reporter: Julian O'Halloran

Producer: David Lewis.

London is home for many rich Russians. But how much are they vetted on arrival?

Predictably, there has been a corresponding wave of anger in schools - with a growing number taking to the courts to challenge the inspectors' views?

So are the inspectors really up to the job? And who inspects the inspectors?

Fran Abrams investigates.

Producer: Rob Cave.

Why are more schools failing their Ofsted inspections? Fran Abrams investigates.

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

Producer: Paul Grant

Researcher: Shona Elliott

Technical Producer: Kelly Young

Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

Child abuse in the Scout Association.

The strip search of ‘Child Q', a fifteen year old black girl in a London school, was headline news, sparking outrage and official inquiries. Her teachers claimed she smelled of cannabis, but no drugs were ever found.

A safeguarding report said racism a likely influencing factor in Child Q's ordeal. The Metropolitan police admitted the strip search should never have happened.

But for some black girls and boys, humiliating - and sometimes unlawful - strip searches are nothing new.

~File On 4 hears from young people who've been strip searched so often they've lost count - in their bedrooms, in children's homes, and in the back of police vans.

We know children from ethnic minorities are being disproportionately strip searched.

~File On 4 can reveal that in the last five years, on average fifty children a week were strip searched in England and Wales - a disproportionate number of them from ethnic minorities.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Payton

Editor: Carl Johnston

Why are a disproportionate number of black children being strip-searched?

In this episode of File on 4 - updated since its first broadcast in February 2020 - Hayley Hassall meets some of those whose lives were destroyed. She returns to the Post Office in the East Riding seaside town of Bridlington with former subpostmaster Lee Castleton. There are still buckets and spades in the otherwise empty shop - a business he'd taken on after deciding to give up his job as a stockbroker for a better quality of life. She hears from Tracy Felstead who was convicted of fraud and sent to Holloway Prison when she was just 19 years old.

One whistleblower reveals how he warned the Post Office the Horizon system was unsafe and, in his first ever interview, forensic accountant Ron Warmington reveals how he struggled to get straight answers from Post Office management after he was brought in to carry out an investigation.

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

Producers: Mick Tucker and Nick Wallis

Editor: Carl Johnston

First broadcast 4 years ago, this episode of File on 4 hears from the subpostmasters accused of fraud as well as whistleblowers and the man brought in to investigate the scandal.

~File On 4 tells the story behind the killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.

In December last year, the Post Office agreed to pay nearly £60 million to more than 550 of its workers and former workers, after losing a High Court battle. It was a key victory for sub-postmasters after a 20-year fight for justice. Many hold the Post Office responsible for destroying their lives by falsely accusing them of theft and fraud. Some ended up in prison, others completely bankrupt - and many have been left with their health and reputations in ruins.

~File On 4 investigates how the Horizon computer system, brought in to Post Office branches in 2000, could have led to accounting shortfalls at branches - and asks why for years the Post Office denied this was possible, instead pursuing its own sub-postmasters for the money, which may have never been missing in the first place.

How the Post Office IT fiasco destroyed the lives and careers of hundreds of postmasters.

Families say their relatives have been left to die in pain - and in some cases people who were not dying have had 'do not resuscitate' orders placed on their notes without being told. The learning disabled are more likely to be ill, more likely to be obese or underweight and more likely to die prematurely. And with health service cuts starting to bite, are things set to get worse? Fran Abrams reports.

Producer: Gail Champion.

Are people with learning disabilities dying unnecessarily because of poor care in the NHS?

With requests to intercept personal communications data on the rise, just who is collecting the information and for what purpose?

Even local authorities can now use surveillance powers to track employees and monitor the activities of residents.

So what rights do people have when they feel they have been unfairly targeted?

Jenny Chryss examines the role of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal - the little known body that considers complaints from those who've been under surveillance by the state.

Critics talk of an 'Orwellian system' in which cases are shrouded in too much secrecy. The Tribunal usually sits in private, with claimants barred from hearing evidence and with little detailed explanation of its decisions.

So where should the balance lie between openness and effective oversight?

Producer: Gail Champion.

What rights do people have when they feel they've been unfairly put under surveillance?

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke says it is the only way that judges can hear the testimony of spies working for MI5, MI6 or GCHQ. Getting them to give evidence in open court is not an option, he says.

A small number of courts already hold secret sessions to consider appeals from individuals facing deportation on evidence compiled by the security services. But how well does the system work? File on 4 hears evidence from lawyers who are concerned about the quality of some of the testimony given behind closed doors.

And the programme has learned of a growing number of closed justice cases being heard in Employment Tribunals where people are claiming they were sacked because they pose a risk to national security. Because the Tribunals are hearing evidence in secret, the claimants are unable to get further details of why they were dismissed.

Gerry Northam explores the operation of secret justice in British courts and asks whether its extension to more cases would be in the national interest.

Producer: David Lewis.

Are plans for secrecy in some civil courts necessary to protect national security?

Producer: Kate West

Reporter: Greg McKenzie

Assistant producer: Nick Holland

Editor: Carl Johnston

Security guard training courses risk public safety.

The two had been separated when they were in care, and contact between them was soon lost.

It might sound like a Dickensian tale of misery, but it's not rare for siblings to be forced apart whilst in the UK's care system.

In England alone, there are currently more than 78,000 children living in foster care or children's homes.

Many have brothers and sisters, but keeping them together is difficult.

~File On 4 hears from the children and young people who have been split up, and hear how it has affected the rest of their lives.

When they can't be placed together, experts agree that robust plans should be put in place to maintain contact between them. So why is it not happening?

If one child goes on to be adopted, maintaining contact with their brothers and sisters is far from straight forward.

And for the families who do adopt sibling groups, there's concern that they're not getting the right help to support those relationships.

Some experts argue that keeping siblings together shouldn't always be the default intervention.

For some, placing them apart might be in their best interests but are the views of children always being taken into account when these decisions are being made and is the importance of sibling relationships sometimes being overlooked?

Reporter - Paul Kenyon

Producer - Emma Forde

Editor - Carl Johnston

The brothers and sisters separated by the care system

The practice is perfectly legal. Treated sewage known as 'sludge' or 'biosolids' provides a rich and cost-effective source of nutrients for soil which is then used to grow crops. The process saves more than three and a half million tonnes of human waste going into landfill or being incinerated.

But reporter Claire Bolderson hears from scientists worried about the chemicals, plastics and medicines that could be damaging soil and making their way into the food chain. And she investigates the process of regulating the treatment, storage and use of sludge, amid claims from experts that rules are outdated and oversight lacking.

Recycling sewage as fertiliser fits today's environmental agenda for waste. But do we know enough about what the potential impact of the practice might be in the future?

Reporter: Claire Bolderson

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Carl Johnston

An investigation into the use of sewage sludge as fertiliser on agricultural land.

Reporter: Fergus Hewison

Producer: Matthew Pintus

Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 investigates if enough is being done to keep hospital patients and staff safe.

The government has brought forward a review into how sex education is taught in schools in England following concerns that children across the country are being taught lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely and 72 genders as part of their RSE.

We speak to teachers, parents, children and sex education providers to try and discover what's really happening in schools and where there are instances of bad practice, we ask if they're part of a systemic national problem in sex education or extreme examples used to push a political moral agenda.

Reporter: Kate West

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

Researcher: Shona Elliott

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

Archive credits: This Morning, Good Morning Britain, TalkTV, GB News, Life Begins, Huntley Film Archives

What is being taught in our schools about sex?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Ben Robinson

Development Producer, Oliver Newlan

Editor: Carl Johnston

How some runaway sex offenders are evading justice

Five years on, more than 16,000 young people - mostly women - have posted harrowing accounts of their experiences on the Everyone's Invited website. It's prompted the government to instruct Ofcom to carry out a review of peer on peer sexual abuse in our schools and colleges. They've also funded the launch of a new NSPCCC

hotline so that those affected can report what's happened to them.

In this investigation Hayley Hassall assesses how common this abuse is, whether schools are brushing the problem under the carpet, to what extent the availability of online porn plays a role and whether teachers are getting enough training.

Details of organisations offering information and support with sexual abuse are available at:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

Producer: Jim Booth

Editor: Carl Johnston

Peer on peer sexual harassment and abuse in Britain's schools and colleges.

Andrew Hosken examines claims of a campaign of dirty tricks to discredit those who question the orthodoxy and hears calls from one of the country's leading pathologists for an inquiry.

Producer Paul Grant.

Andrew Hosken examines claims of a dirty tricks campaign over Shaken Baby Syndrome.

But currently, in England, these schemes aren't overseen by the independent regulator of health and social care the Care Quality Commission and councils aren't required to record cases of abuse and neglect in sheltered housing.

It is leading to growing concerns that many vulnerable residents are hidden away and left to suffer without the authorities ever knowing there is a problem.

With a move to care being provided via direct payments, its likely the demand for sheltered accommodation will grow. But there's concern that new developments are being shelved due to ongoing uncertainty over funding.

~File On 4 speaks to people who have been taken advantage of while living in sheltered accommodation, who feel they were sitting ducks for people looking to prey on the vulnerable.

And when things do go wrong, with an absence of regulation are there sufficient mechanisms to prevent the same things from happening again?

Reporter: Brigitte Scheffer

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Gail Champion.

Who protects the residents of sheltered housing schemes from abuse or neglect?

Editor, Maggie Latham

Producer, Jim Booth

Reporter, Kate West

~File On 4 lifts the lid on the dangerous and polluting world of international shipbreaking

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Producers: Holly Clemens and Kate West

Editor: Carl Johnston

The organised crime gangs who use trafficked women and children for shoplifting across UK.

~File On 4 investigates the organised crime groups using trafficked women and children to steal millions of pounds worth of goods from high street stores across the UK.

Against a backdrop of rising complaints, the new Competition and Markets authority is considering whether to launch an investigation.

So are students getting what they pay for? And when they don't, can they get the problem fixed in a timely manner?

Why are some students taking to the courts to try to get redress?

Fran Abrams has been examining the universities' record.

Which of them have seen the biggest rise in student concerns, and which have managed to buck the trend?

Producer: Emma Forde.

Are students getting a fair deal in the cut-throat world of higher education?

She speaks to families struggling to get help for this distressing form of abuse and those struggling to come to terms with a child harming another child - and fighting to repair their family.

As she will find out, a lack of official data makes it difficult to know for sure the true scale of the problem but some experts suggest 1.3 million people in the UK may have been affected by it.

And she will ask if a reluctance to accept what's going on in front of us, could mean that when people look for help, often, it's not there.

This is a story about sexual abuse at the very heart of the family; a story that may challenge what you think you know about the risk children may face in our homes.

Reporter: Livvy Haydock

Producer: Alys Harte

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Editor: Nicola Addyman

Livvy Haydock explores the challenges and complexities of sibling sexual abuse.

Record numbers are leaving the classroom and thousands of teachers recently responded to the Government's workload survey to say they were struggling with their workload. They blamed the pressure of Ofsted inspections and pressure from school management.

Official absence statistics are silent on the causes of sick leave - but now File on 4 reveals new figures on the number of teachers off long-term because of stress.

Jane Deith hears from those who say they were pushed to the brink by the pressure - some suicidal and others hospitalized or diagnosed with depression.

Teaching has always involved long hours and heavy workloads but, with schools' performance open to unprecedented scrutiny, some education academics argue that the 'surveillance culture' is now seriously harming teacher's health and their ability to provide high quality education.

Are they right? How alarmed should we be about the mental well-being of our children's teachers?

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Matt Precey.

Why are so many teachers off work with stress? Jane Deith investigates.

Pilots and cabin crew say that sudden fume events and long term low level exposure to toxic cabin air can make them seriously ill. In some cases they claim exposure to affected air has caused premature death.

The industry insists that serious leaks of toxic gas into cockpits and cabins are relatively very rare, given the number of flights each day. And that no causal link between toxic cabin air and health problems has yet been proven.

But the industry faces multiple court cases this year. On File on 4 one representative of the airline industry agrees to face questions on fume events, claims of a lack of transparency and claims that the health of hundreds of pilots, cabin crew and frequent fliers is being affected.

We reveal confidential airline and Coroners' reports in connection with fume events and so called 'aerotoxicity'. We hear about pilots and crew who say they've been poisoned by toxic cabin air. And from scientists about research being done on potential links between airline cabin contamination and neurological health.

Presenter: Mike Powell

Producer: Paul Waters

Editor: Andrew Smith

How safe is the air inside airline cabins?

The Freedom to Speak Up report was commissioned by the government amid concerns not enough progress had been made to create a more open culture within the NHS following the Mid Staffs inquiry which unearthed the poor care and high mortality rates at Stafford Hospital.

The report - which considered evidence from 600 individuals and 43 organisations across the country included chilling accounts of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals whose lives and careers had been destroyed after trying to raise legitimate concerns about patient safety.

Whistle-blowers said they'd been left financially ruined, blacklisted and sent to the brink of suicide after being branded snitches and trouble-makers.

Revealing a continuing culture of secrecy with trusts demonising whistle-blowers instead of welcoming and investigating their concerns, it was hoped the report would herald a new era of openness and accountability.

~File On 4 investigates what has happened since and asks whether measures put in place to protect those speaking out about patient safety are fit for purpose.

Doctors who have spoken up since say they've faced the same catalogue of bullying and abuse by their employers, and in some cases, the focus remains on protecting reputations of Trusts, rather than addressing poor care. So is the culture changing quickly enough?

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

How are whistleblowers who report unsafe care in the NHS treated?

The use of special guardianship orders has been rising-last year more than 3,000 of them were made.

But special guardianship breaks down more often - and more quickly - than adoption.

And in some cases children have been neglected, abused, or murdered.

The family court service Cafcass and the Association of Directors of Children's Services have warned that weak assessments of the risks of family placements are a 'real risk' for children.

The government has re-written the law on how special guardians are assessed. But with court deadlines and growing pressure on social workers and budgets, will it make children safer? Jane Deith investigates.

Producer: Emma Forde.

Placing children with relatives is an alternative to adoption. But does it always work?

The prison contract came into effect in 2015, but within months major problems started to emerge, as prisoners, staff and inspectors reported long delays in getting cells, windows and toilets repaired.

The Ministry of Justice acknowledged that Carillion was under-performing and ordered the company to pay back millions of pounds - but its contract was allowed to continue until the work was taken in-house after the firm folded last month.

There've also been growing concerns about another contractor, Amey, which has a maintenance contract at 61 prisons in the north of England, the Midlands and Wales.

Amey's work came under the spotlight at Liverpool Jail which was described in a recent report as 'squalid', with prisoners living in damp, dirty and cockroach-infested conditions.

The contracts, which are worth £200 million over five years, were intended to deliver savings of £115 million.

But Ministers have admitted that the Government won't achieve the economies it wanted to because it under-estimated how much it costs to maintain jails.

They say the new government-owned facilities management company which has taken on Carillion's work will secure 'significant improvements' and have pledged to strengthen the management and oversight of its contract with Amey to deliver a better service.

But the Prison Officers Association says the failure to maintain prisons properly has fuelled frustration behind bars, contributed to increasing levels of violence and endangered the health and welfare of inmates.

~File On 4 explores the background to the prisons maintenance contracts, the impact out-sourcing has had on prisoners, staff and the public and whether the solution lies in greater state control, an end to private sector involvement or more investment.

Reporter: Danny Shaw

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Editor: Gail Champion.

Have private contracts for prison maintenance made our jails more dangerous?

The programme also looks at Greybull Capital - the investment company that bought British Steel for £1 from its previous owner Tata. But Greybull have a chequered history when it comes to their success in revitalising distressed concerns. File on 4 also asks if the government is doing enough to create a level playing field where British Steel can compete in a highly competitive world market.

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images.

Could more have been done to save British Steel from insolvency?

Firms are concerned that although the banks say they are open for business the reality of the terms, conditions and fees make it unrealistic for them to apply for finance.

In frustration, some businesses have turned to foreign banks to make finance available to them.

And at a time when hi-tech businesses are seen as a source of future growth for the British economy, companies complain that banks are assessing loan applications using traditional business criteria which offer little support to this sector.

As the part state owned banks fail to meet lending targets set by the previous administration, the new Business Secretary Vince Cable says he is determined to address this. But in the current climate how much more financial help can British business really expect?

For 'File on 4', Morland Sanders investigates.

Producer Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Is economic recovery at risk as banks are failing to lend? Morland Sanders investigates.

But who are the victims of modern day slavery in the UK and how organised are the gangs who prey upon them?

While much concern has focused on people trafficked into the country, Jane Deith reveals how the most vulnerable in society such as the homeless and people with learning difficulties are being targeted by gangs who pick them off the streets with the offer of money and accommodation. But many say they end up working long hours for little or no pay and are too frightened to leave. Some - including people from the UK - are taken abroad to countries such as Sweden and Norway to pave driveways and other labouring jobs. Others are working in the construction industry here but being paid much less than the minimum wage.

Police say the traffickers and those who exploit the homeless and vulnerable are highly organised and often use their victims' identities to open bank accounts and commit further crimes such as benefit fraud, netting thousands of pounds and leaving their victims with huge debts.

So who's monitoring the marginalised? Will the new Bill do enough to deal with the dark side of Britain's labour market?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Paul Grant.

Modern-day slavery in the UK - how the homeless and vulnerable are used for cheap labour.

~File On 4 investigates the growth of online subscription scams, where customers are unwittingly signed up to schemes which hit them with hidden charges, unexpected monthly fees and products which are made deliberately difficult to cancel. We hear from victims with chronic illnesses desperately searching for a solution to their ailments, who are instead left out of pocket and we speak to the celebrities furious their names are being used to endorse such products. The programme goes in search of those running these schemes online and exposes the tools and tricks designed to scam unwitting customers and sheds light on the creation of a global multi-million pound industry.

Reporter: Athar Ahmad

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Carl Johnston

The billion dollar subscription scam industry.

Shabnam Mahmood reports from both Sunni and Shia communities and reveals how divisive messages from the Middle East are fuelling intolerance here.

Organisations which monitor hate crimes say sectarian violence, while low level, is increasing.

One Shia man tells the programme: 'It is now becoming quite dangerous. It is an attack on me as a Shia that really scares me.

Mahmood reports from one of an increasing number of unity events being staged across the country to foster good relations. A Sunni imam tells her: 'These are dangerous times and the religious leadership need to be seen to be doing things to bring communities together.

So can such work prevent tensions escalating in the face of the sectarian propaganda that's increasingly available online and on satellite television channels?

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Are relations between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the UK being strained by tensions abroad?

The Chief Medical Officer of England, Professor Dame Sally Davies, has painted an apocalyptic picture where routine operations could become deadly in just 20 years if we lose the ability to fight infection.

But the programme discovers growing concern among doctors that bugs found in our hospitals have already developed the ability to withstand drugs which are effectively the last line of defence.

Has the Government drive to eradicate MRSA and C-Difficile left the back door open for more challenging strains of superbug to take hold? Does the health service know why numbers of healthcare infections of E. Coli are rising? And where are the new medicines to tackle the resistant strains? The programme hears there's little incentive for drug companies to produce new antibiotics because they won't be able to make enough money.

Allan Urry meets the medics on the front line in the battle to stop infection killing patients. Can the NHS win the war against the microbes?

Producer: Paul Grant.

Can the NHS protect patients from new antibiotic-resistant superbugs?

~File On 4 analysis of hospital admissions for self-harm reveals a system under growing pressure as more and more pre-teens are hurting themselves so badly they need a hospital bed. In telling Sarah's story, we look at what works and what doesn't when it comes to supporting children who self-harm. Why are ever-younger children ending up in hospital after injuring themselves? What has been the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic self-harm? And what was it that finally helped Sarah turn a corner?

Reporter: Dan Whitworth

Producer: Simon Maybin

Editor: Maggie Latham

One teenager's experience of hurting herself and a system struggling with rising demand.

Reporter: Geoff White

Producer: David Lewis

Editor: Gail Champion

(Photo credit: NurPhoto\Getty Images)

The encrypted apps that bring the criminal web to your mobile phone.

Arrests have been made in the wake of the Euro 2020 game but what long-term measures are in place to eradicate this poisonous behaviour which has spread from the terraces to online platforms with little in place to stop it.

Reporter: Athar Ahmad

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Carl Johnston

Who's tackling online abuse in football?

Reporter: Livvy Haydock

Producer: Oliver Newlan

Editor: Carl Johnston

How social media is fuelling violence and murder in north London.

There seems to be a growing acceptance that what the Deputy Children's Commissioner says is true: 'there isn't a town, village of hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited'.

Councils that thought they were immune from groomers and traffickers, are now training staff to spot child sexual exploitation. And children are being taught how to avoid falling prey.

But, as children become more aware of grooming, are abusers increasingly turning their attention to people with learning disabilities?

In the first of a new series, File on 4 hears warnings from disability workers and detectives that abusers are increasingly targeting people with disabilities - because they're less likely to know what grooming is, less likely to tell, and if they do, their case is far less likely to go to court.

Jane Deith visits the only safe house in the UK for women with learning disabilities who've been victims of rape and sexual exploitation, and hears even this secret address is now on the radar of gangs trying to groom the residents.

Women with learning disabilities tell their stories of being groomed and exploited, how they eventually broke their silence, only to be told the crimes would not be prosecuted. Of an estimated 1400 cases of sexual abuse each year, only 1% result in a conviction.

If offenders aren't being punished, can we prevent the abuse by protecting those at risk? Councils worried someone is being exploited can go to the Court of Protection for permission to restrict their relationships on the grounds they don't have the mental capacity to consent to sex. But it's a difficult thing to rule on. File on 4 hears from disability workers who say men and women are being left open to rape and abuse, but also from campaigners who say the state is denying people their fundamental human right to sexual relationships.

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Sally Chesworth.

How sexual abusers are increasingly targeting people with learning difficulties.

As the Treasury reviews tax avoidance by senior government employees, it has emerged that employees in other parts of the public sector are using payment schemes that keep them off the payroll. There is growing concern that paying public servants through personal service companies may be inappropriate.

How tax-compliant are the citizens of the United Kingdom? Is there a risk that publicity about the tax-avoidance schemes of the rich, coupled with easier access to information via the internet, could lead to more people trying to cut their contributions?

Presenter: Fran Abrams

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

As the Treasury reviews tax avoidance, Fran Abrams asks - how widespread is the problem?

Producer: Rob Cave.

Corporate tax: Who writes the rules? Fran Abrams investigates.

Many of those people now owe life-changing amounts to HMRC yet campaigners say there has been insufficient action against the companies that promoted the schemes.

But while some individuals face ruin, File On 4 has discovered that the businesses behind some of those loan schemes are still active. But now they've been targeting front-line COVID workers.

Reporter: Felicity Hannah

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Gail Champion

COVID workers targeted with tax avoidance schemes that HMRC warns against signing up to.

Reporter Simon Cox Producer Paul Grant.

Have the tennis authorities done enough to investigate allegations of match-fixing?

The programme revealed how tennis authorities had received repeated alerts in the past decade about 16 players, all of whom have been in the top 50.

It also questioned the effectiveness of the sport's watchdog, the Tennis Integrity Unit.

Now, in a follow up programme, Simon Cox reveals new allegations of corruption and further evidence of the involvement of gambling syndicates in trying to influence the outcome of matches.

Officials from the governing bodies of tennis have already been interviewed by MPs about the findings of the original programme. They have also appointed a prominent London barrister to head an independent review into anti-corruption policies and practices.

Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Paul Grant.

Simon Cox reveals more allegations about match-fixing in tennis.

~File On 4 investigates how bad science could be making you sick.

Presenter: Tom Wright

Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou

~File On 4 investigates how bad science could be damaging people's health.

To find out, Simon Cox meets the residents of Birmingham, who are dealing with the reality of the accountants' decisions. And he speaks to the nation's top accountants to ask how their profession is changing and what the future holds.

The last 20 years have seen many services which used to be run by local councils outsourced to the private sector. Capita, formed by a former government accountant, has taken the lion's share of these contracts, which often involve a team of Capita accountants deciding where to make cuts in local services. In Birmingham a massive IT and 'business transformation' contract between Capita and the City Council is proving highly controversial - with claims that it is diverting money away from public services and into private sector profit.

Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) form another kind of management model which accountants helped create and which added to the growth of the Big Four accountancy firms - Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCoopers - over the last two decades. Birmingham is home to one of the biggest PFI contracts ever signed, with a private contractor in charge of roads, trees and street lights. Have the accountants engineered a good deal for Birmingham?

The next big growth area for the accountants is the NHS as doctors seek their help in commissioning and managing local services under the health service reforms. But what does this mean for the people on the NHS front line?

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Lucy Proctor.

What role do accountants play in managing modern Britain? Simon Cox investigates.

Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Gail Champion.

Are taxpayers getting value from Britain's \u00a312 billion foreign aid budget?

Producer: Vicky Carter

Reporter: Iona Bain

Technical Producer: Kelly Young

Production Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

Editor: Clare Fordham

What one scam phone call tells us about the psychology of fraud.

~File On 4 explores the anatomy of a single fraud, hearing a scam call unfold, and finding out its impact on the victim.

Producer: Rob Cave

Are asylum seekers being mistreated by UK companies paid billions to house them?

As the institution comes of age, Gerry Northam asks whether the EU's spending on itself has become excessive and - if so - whether member states do anything about it.

In Brussels, hundreds of millions of pounds have been found for projects described by Eurosceptics as 'self-aggrandisement'. An art deco showpiece is being transformed into a new headquarters for the European Council at a cost of around 300 million Euros (£250m). A further 55 million Euros (£46m) is going to create a House of European History - a museum celebrating European integration. A new 20 million Euros (£17m) visitors' centre at the European Parliament, called the Parlamentarium, has been dismissed as a multimedia tribute to itself.

Meanwhile alarm has been raised that money the United Kingdom designates as aid for developing countries is being diverted by Europe to encourage Turkey, Serbia and others to join the Union. MPs claim this money directly disadvantages Britain.

Critics say Europe's expansion comes with an unnecessarily large price tag. Are they right?

Reporter: Gerry Northam

Producer: Chris Doidge.

Does the European Union spend too much on self-promotion?

Simon Cox tracks money going from the UK to projects on the ground in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, trying to find out how much eventually gets to refugees. It's easy to see how funding an NGO to build new homes for Syrians is money well spent. But can the same be said for the hundreds of millions of pounds that go through the United Nations?

The programme hears from aid workers, UN officials, refugees and UN investigators about cuts to food rations against a backdrop of high salaries and overheads.

So is the UN up to the job of managing a modern-day refugee crisis?

Producer: Lucy Proctor.

The UK is giving a billion pounds of aid to Syrian refugees. But is it being well spent?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Anna Meisel

Research: Matthew Lynch

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Editor: Carl Johnston

The 'brain drain' of doctors from developing countries to work in the UK.

Reporter: Phil Kemp

Producer: Anna Meisel.

How will the new Cancer Drugs Fund cope with the challenges of rising cost and demand?

During 2017-2018, the government funded scheme paid out over £154 million to help people rebuild their lives.

But for some victims it's not straightforward.

Solicitors and charities argue that inflexible rules exclude too many people from successfully making a claim, including those who apply more than two years after a crime happens, and those who have an unspent conviction of any kind.

Even where people are eligible for compensation, are they always getting what they deserve?

Applications to the CICA can be made without the help of a solicitor but File on 4 investigates whether victims without legal advice may be being deprived of their entitlement.

Serious questions are also being asked about the effect on vulnerable applicants when the CICA puts an award into a legal trust and dictates exactly how the money will be spent.

A government review into the scheme is currently underway and is set to report back later this year but in the meantime, is it fair to those whose lives have been affected by abuse or violence - or is it penny-pinching to save public money?

Presenter: Lesley Curwen

Producer: Emma Forde

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit: Education Images\Getty

The victims of violent and serious crimes being denied access to compensation.

In the first of a new series of File on 4, Jane Deith reports from Assam on the plight of workers on tea plantations which help supply some of Britain's best known brands.

India is one of the largest tea producers in the world with an industry worth billions of pounds - but critics say pickers often have to endure long working hours and insanitary conditions, leading to poor health and high levels of maternal and infant mortality.

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Jane Deith investigates conditions for tea workers in Assam.

~File On 4 finds that a small number of patients are so desperate they will risk their health by looking for a kidney abroad. Most British patients head to Pakistan, where an equally desperate group of people are coerced into giving up their kidneys, placing their lives in the hands of organ traffickers.

But now a new, sinister trade is emerging in Pakistan. In October Pakistani police raided an apartment building in Rawalpindi and behind a metal grill, found 24 terrified people locked inside. They had been lured with offers of jobs, but when they arrived were kidnapped and told a kidney would be removed.

As a worldwide shortage of organs fuels an increase in transplant tourism, Allan Urry, working in conjunction with local journalist Nosheen Abbas hears from the people caught up in this illegal trade and asks whether enough is being done to prevent it.

Reporters: Allan Urry with Nosheen Abbas

Producer: Ruth Evans

Researcher: Usman Zahid.

How a worldwide shortage of organs is fuelling a dangerous trade in transplant tourism.

Exploring reports of financial assessments being neglected, and allegations that people's basic needs are not being met, we ask if some of society's most vulnerable are being made to shoulder the cost of local council funding gaps.

Producer: Michael Cowan

Reporter: Claire Bolderson

Editor: Maggie Latham

An investigation into rising care costs and how the most vulnerable are paying the price

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Carl Johnston

Long Covid - what happens when the sick pay runs out?

Presenter: Adrian Goldberg

Producers: Fergus Hewison, Emma Forde and Phil Marzouk

Assistant Producers: Ella Rule and Patrick Kiteley

Production Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

Technical Producer: Kelly Young

Editor: Carl Johnston

The Crooked House: The story behind the destruction of Britain's wonkiest pub.

At its height more than 9,000 people from around the world lived in the camp while attempting to make it across to the UK, often hiding in the back of lorries or packed into small boats. It was hoped the camp's closure would stem the number of people risking their lives to try to get to Britain. But more than two years on has it worked?

Over Christmas the Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared the number of migrants attempting to cross in boats a 'major incident' and since then more than 100 people have been picked up in 2019.

File in 4 investigates the British gangs making thousands of pounds and risking migrants' lives smuggling them across the Channel and reports on the attempts to break up their networks.

In France, concerted efforts have been made to stop another large camp being established in Calais and File on 4 asks whether the policy is succeeding in deterring migrants from travelling to the French coast, or whether it is simply driving people to take ever greater risks?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images.

The lucrative criminal trade in bringing migrants across the channel in dinghies.

In this episode of File on 4 the stranger than fiction story that's the latest cryptocurrency scandal to leave tens of thousands of people out of pocket. The news about QuadrigaCX broke almost to the day that crypto-currencies celebrated a decade in existence. On this anniversary, we investigate the current state of the market and uncover how these sometimes tragic events have unfolded both here in the UK and across the world. With the UK government and other countries now considering attempting to regulate the market, we ask if these scandals could have been prevented and could now be avoided in the future.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Producer: Kate West

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo credit: Reuters.

Cryptocurrencies have been around for 10 years, so why are many still dogged by scandal?

Action Fraud provide a central point of contact for information about fraud and financially motivated internet crime.

Phone: 0300 123 2040

www.actionfraud.police.uk

UK Safer Internet Centre provides e-safety tips, advice and resources to help children and young people stay safe on the internet.

www.saferinternet.org.uk

Get Safe Online offers unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety, including advice for parents about safeguarding children online.

www.getsafeonline.org

Sexual abuse:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

Bereavement:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4MmhHDSbdDmTpVJhBs2v4Py/information-and-support-bereavement

Livvy Haydock investigates dating apps and if the pandemic has made them more dangerous.

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

Producer: Paul Grant

Editors: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

In this investigation by File on 4 and BBC Monitoring, Paul Kenyon and Krassimira Twigg examine China's new strategy of aggressively pushing disinformation on social media platforms through the use of ‘wolf warrior' diplomats, internet bots, ‘the 50-cent army' of loyal Chinese netizens and a longer term goal of inventing a new type of internet where authoritarian governments can control users.

Editor: Lucy Proctor

Producer: Jim Booth

Investigating China's new strategy of spreading disinformation around the world.

It's mainly used to treat epilepsy and other conditions such as bipolar disorder.

But taking the drug when pregnant can cause serious harm to unborn babies.

Even when it was licenced fifty years ago, it was known to cause harm to foetuses in animals. But it wasn't until 2005 that the patient information leaflet, which should come with a prescription- gave clear warnings on the risks of taking valproate in pregnancy to unborn children, beyond a small chance of spina bifida.

~File On 4 asks if the health regulators in the UK and the company who make it, Sanofi, did enough to inform patients of the severity of the drug's risks soon enough.

Meanwhile, new risks of the drug are still emerging. A new study shows the drug may affect the neurological development of children fathered by men taking valproate. The evidence is still inconclusive, but neurologists are uncertain what to advise their male patients on valproate.

And why are women still getting pregnant on it? We ask if the system set up to protect women taking it is working as it should be?

A major review of the drug made a number of recommendations, including the setting up of specialist clinics and a compensation scheme for those affected. The programme asks what progress has been made in the UK to implement those changes, and are we lagging behind other countries?

~File On 4 speaks to the families whose children have been left with lifelong neurological and physical disabilities as a result of taking the medication.

Reporter: Rachel Stonehouse

Producers: Jane Fellner and Emma Forde

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 investigates the drug Sodium Valproate and its impact on thousands of children.

~File On 4 has spent a week in a GP's surgery speaking to doctors, staff, and patients to try and understand the challenges facing the front line of health care.

The programme has been given access to what goes on behind the scenes at a doctor's surgery in Gateshead, on Tyneside, in one of the most deprived parts of England. It hears why a growing population, more elderly people, and fewer fully qualified doctors dealing with more complex health problems are all factors pushing some GP practices to the brink, and some to consider leaving the profession altogether.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producers: Fergus Hewison and Kat Collins

Techincal Producer: Nicky Edwards

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 spends a week in a GP's surgery, reporting from the front line of healthcare.

With fares set to rise, the programme examines why Britain's railways are so much more expensive than other European countries. Passengers in some parts of the UK complain they are caught out by a complex and confusing system of ticketing, which unfairly penalises them.

Does it have to be so difficult to find out what the restrictions are on your journey?

Why aren't there enough carriages for commuters travelling at peaks times? Overcrowding's got so bad, some are left behind on the platform.

Much of the criticism is aimed at the Train Operating Companies, but how much are they to blame? And why does Network Rail, the company responsible for the national infrastructure, soak up the bulk of the 5 billion pounds of taxpayer's subsidy, yet according to its regulator, is 40 per cent less efficient than its EU rivals?

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Why do Britain's railways cost more than elsewhere in Europe? Allan Urry investigates.

Increasingly councils are having to use temporary accommodation and even bed and breakfasts to cope with a shortage of affordable accommodation. It has become an increasingly profitable business for landlords. Research this year for London councils found that they had spent over £650 million in the capital on temporary accommodation in just one year. Charities say changes to the benefit cap which comes into effect next week will make the situation for families looking for a home, even worse.

~File On 4 reports from the front line of the homelessness crisis. The programme meets the families sent by councils to live in cramped, filthy conditions.

We hear from the doctors who claim emergency accommodation in one city is affecting people's mental health and contributing to an increase in deaths and the local authority keeping families in B&B accommodation longer than they are legally allowed to.

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Are local councils doing enough to provide accommodation for the homeless?

Producer Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Allan Urry investigates claims that Iran has been stepping up its support for terrorism.

~File On 4 reveals new figures about the scale of alleged sex offences taking place in residential and nursing homes. Whether 5 or 85, should the victims of sexual assault be treated any differently?

Claire Savage hears from the families of elderly people, some with a form of dementia, who have been sexually abused by care workers or by other residents. We also speak to care workers about the challenges they face in dealing with intimacy and sex in care settings.

Experts claim elder sex crimes are being missed or going unreported because not everyone wants to admit these offences are happening. How good are those within the care industry at recognising the signs of elder sexual abuse and at coping with the moral and ethical dilemmas of establishing when a consensual relationship becomes potential abuse?

We speak to those who explain the complexities of bringing about prosecutions where the victim or perpetrator lacks mental capacity and asks if such cases are in the public interest to prosecute.

Reporter: Claire Savage

Producer: Emma Forde.

Are allegations of sex crimes made by elderly victims being ignored?

While the victims of recent grooming scandals have mostly been white girls, campaigners say Asian boys and girls have also been subjected to abuse over many years.

Male and female survivors tell Manveen Rana there's a powerful culture of denial stopping many speaking out and getting justice. They say communities too often close ranks and ostracise or threaten those who complain, while leaving perpetrators to carry on.

Reporter: Manveen Rana

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Assistant Producer: Yasminara Khan.

Is there a hidden problem of child sex abuse within Britain's Asian communities?

Across the Republic and Northern Ireland thousands of women and girls were sent to mother and baby homes to give birth in secret and then gave their babies over for adoption.

For some women, the homes which were mostly run by the Catholic Church, provided sanctuary and a chance for them to rebuild their lives.

But others have claimed they were subjected to human rights abuses which culminated in seeing their babies taken from them and adopted out without their consent.

~File On 4 investigates one such former institution in Northern Ireland - Marianvale in Newry - and hears concerns over the conditions and practices at the home which closed in 1984.

Now some of the children adopted from the home are in a race against time to find their birth mothers before they pass away. Some claim they face a trail of secrecy and obfuscation and there are growing calls for a public inquiry to provide answers about the extent of alleged forced adoption practices within Northern Ireland.

~File On 4 asks whether enough is being done to provide answers for some women who went into Northern Ireland's mother and baby homes and for the babies they never saw again.

Reporter: Michael Buchanan

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Gail Champion.

An investigation into the former Marianvale mother and baby home in Northern Ireland.

In 2014 one of the world's biggest Bitcoin exchanges - Mt Gox - suddenly stopped trading and filed for bankruptcy. It then announced that thousands of Bitcoins with a value of almost half a billion pounds had gone missing, leaving customers out of pocket and wondering what had gone on. For a while that remained a mystery, but recently US investigators have revealed that another exchange was involved - and there had been a huge Bitcoin theft...

What transpires is a murky transnational tale spanning Russia, Europe, Japan and the United States.

In a case which shines a light on the darkest corners of online trading Geoff White tells the story of the real-life digital crime drama which shocked the cryptocurrency world.

Reporter: Geoff White

Producer: Nicola Dowling

Editor: Gail Champion.

The mystery of the missing Bitcoin billions: a real-life cryptocurrency crime drama.

Police say right-wing extremism is the fastest growing terrorist threat - and that the coronavirus pandemic may be leaving teens vulnerable to radicalisation.

As he investigates the movement, Daniel reveals the inner-workings of these militant extreme right-wing groups who seek to spark a race war and destroy society. Working with investigative journalists in the US and Russia, he tracks down some of the movement's most extreme and influential men.

Producer: Lucy Proctor

Reporter: Daniel De Simone

Editor: Carl Johnston

A neo-Nazi network is seeking to recruit young Brits.

There's an aim to generate 16GWe of new nuclear power by 2030.

But experts doubt that's a realistic prospect, with Hinkley Point C years late, and questions over whether investors will risk capital on a proposed plant in Cumbria. And as plans for the future of nuclear power evolve, the legacy of the past also needs to be dealt with.

The government's served notice on a £6billion contract to make safe a dozen of the UK's first nuclear sites, dating back to the 1950s.

It was the most valuable piece of work ever put out to tender by the government.

But the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority gave the job to the wrong consortium. The high court ordered a payout to the rightful winners of £97.3 million in damages.

The National Audit Office says the total cost to the taxpayer is upwards of £122 million.

The government also has to find someone else to clean up the old Magnox power stations and nuclear research sites. The current contractor, Cavendish Fluor Partnership and the NDA agree the job is far bigger than was made clear, and CFP will down tools nine years early.

~File On 4 looks at the delays and spiralling costs in decommissioning old power station sites.

So just how well is our nuclear industry being managed?

Producer: Rob Cave

Reporter: Jane Deith

Editor: Gail Champion.

How are plans for the future of nuclear power progressing - and how to clean up the past?

Reporter: Mark Lobel

Producer: Kate West

Technical Producer: Kelly Young

Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Editor: Carl Johnston

~File On 4 investigates the UK's first conviction for organ harvesting.

The majority of the hundreds of orphanages operating in Uganda are illegal, unregistered and now are in a fight with a government trying to shut them down. Dozens on the government's list for closure are funded by charities and church groups based in the UK.

With widespread concerns about abuse, trafficking and exploitation of children growing up in orphanages are funders in the UK doing enough to make sure their donations aren't doing more harm than good?

Reporter: Anna Cavell

Producer: Kate West

Editor: Gail Champion

~File On 4 exposes the abuse of Ugandan children being cared for in UK-funded orphanages

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Carl Johnston

Paedophile preacher still free to offend.

But what is motivating migrants to risk their lives and take to the sea in such numbers?

~File On 4 investigates conditions on the ground for migrants in northern France and hears claims a lack of food and sanitation, already a major issue in the informal camps, has been exacerbated by coronavirus.

Reporter Paul Kenyon hears concerns migrants have been driven to desperation by the worsening conditions on the ground and anxious not to fall ill with coronavirus in France in case they enter the French immigration system and harm their chances of settling in the UK.

Last year Home Secretary Priti Patel announced a package of new measures to crack down on migrants crossing the Channel in boats and vowed it would be an infrequent occurrence by spring 2020.

With record numbers of arrivals File on 4 investigates whether the Government's policies have prevented even greater numbers of people attempting crossings or forced them to take greater risks?

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Carl Johnston

Why are so many migrants risking their lives by crossing the Channel in small boats?

Producer: Ian Muir Cochrane

Reporter: Allan Urry.

New revelations about structural problems in schools and hospitals built under PFI schemes

Former prisoners tell File on 4 that the bulk of smuggled goods come in with staff. Drones and visitors bring in small amounts, but the bigger consignments can only make it through with inside help. John Podmore, who's run jails and led the service's anti-corruption unit, says staff corruption is the inconvenient truth at the heart of the prison crisis.

'It is uncomfortable. They are few in number but they are large in their effect. One prison officer bringing in one coffee jar full of spice or cannabis can keep that jail going for a long time and make an awful lot of money.'

Former prisoners tell the BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent, Danny Shaw, staff corruption is a serious problem but has become 'the elephant in the room' that prison officials don't want to acknowledge. The ex-inmates say some staff are being corrupted while others turn a blind eye.

The Ministry of Justice has promised renewed efforts to combat corruption and professionalise the service. Thousands of frontline staff in London and south-east England will benefit from a pay boost, thanks to a new £12m package.

So will it stop the rot?

Reporter: Danny Shaw

Producer: Sally Chesworth

Editor: Gail Champion.

Claims corrupt staff are behind the bulk of drugs and phones causing chaos in prisons.

No party dare publicly claim anything less than unswerving support for the NHS and its supporting mantra that health care should be 'free at the point of delivery.

Yet millions of people are treated by a private dentist. Millions more think nothing of having to pay for eye tests and the spectacles prescribed by opticians who work for 'for-profit' businesses. GP practices are independent-run businesses. Routine operations are often outsourced to private hospitals. Yet NHS contracts are increasingly fulfilled by private health providers. While campaigners protest, most people continue having treatment.

So what is at the root of opposition to private health care? Is it the fear of replicating the US system where ability to pay is often a condition of receiving health care? If good health care is the last standing public good is that because it's the last vestige of socialism, clung to by the left? Is there a fear that the nature of health care changes when a commercial transaction lies behind it? Do nostalgia and a notion of 'fairness' play a part? And does the fear of opposition encourage a policy of reform by stealth which in turn fuels suspicion and more opposition?

Adrian's mother was a domestic at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham for more than 20 years; his first job was working for the West Midlands Regional Health Authority, while his sister is a nurse. The programme takes Adrian on a personal journey to discover the true nature of opposition to private provision. On the way he talks to patients, practitioners and experts on health provision.

Why is 'private' the word that dare not speak its name in the National Health Service?

Those who run the NHS claim that recent reforms will revolutionise the way frail patients are cared for. Older people like Reg will be looked after at home - an army of nurses, GP's and other healthcare professionals working in tandem to provide ever more care in the community. It's hoped these changes will ease the pressure on scarce hospital beds. But with the health service already straining to fill vacancies, will there really be enough nurses to meet that lofty ambition?

As the NHS struggles to cope with an ageing population, annual winter crises and staff shortages, Tom Wright investigates what Reg Thompson's story tells us about the future of the NHS.

Presenter: Tom Wright

Editor: Andrew Smith

What can one man's story tells us about the future of the NHS?

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~File On 4 investigates one such former institution, Smyllum Park in Lanark, uncovering new evidence of alleged abuse and raising serious questions about child deaths at the orphanage, before it was closed in 1981.

In Scotland, the ongoing child abuse inquiry has vowed to get to the bottom of what happened at Smyllum Park and other children's homes but it has been beset with delays, resignations and claims of political interference.

~File On 4 asks whether the inquiry is digging deep enough to uncover the truth about what happened at Smyllum Park and why it has taken more than 50 years for the truth to come out.

Producer: Ben Robinson

Reporter: Michael Buchanan.

An investigation into the treatment of children at Smyllum Park orphanage in Scotland.

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There have been consistent rumours that dozens, perhaps scores of British-based Somali men have travelled to Somalia to join the militant Islamist group which was banned by the British Government earlier this year.

In September the rumours were given new urgency when the Director of MI5, Jonathan Evans, warned it was only a matter of time before the UK suffered an act of terrorism committed by al-Shabaab-trained Britons.

~File On 4 explores the techniques used by Al-Shabaab to persuade young members of the 250,000-strong British Somali community to sign up for Jihad in Somalia. Members of the close-knit and reticent British Somali community tell Jenny Cuffe of their fears that youngsters are being seduced through the internet and by shadowy recruiting sergeants for the Horn of Africa's most feared military force.

And the programme travels to the state of Minnesota to see how a vigorous FBI investigation and cooperation from the Somali community have laid-bare a pipeline which first lured, then transported young American Somalis to the training camps and battlefields of Somalia.

Producer: Andy Denwood.

How British Somalis are recruited to fight for the banned Islamist group, al-Shabaab.

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~File On 4 reveals compelling evidence that software is being used to track the work of journalists, activists and lawyers around the world. Paul Kenyon investigates the multi-billion pound ‘lawful surveillance' industry. Sophisticated software can allow hackers to remotely install spyware on their targets' phones. This gives them access to everything on the devices - including encrypted messages - and even allows them to control the microphone and camera.

So what are the options for those who are targeted and is there any way to control the development and use of commercially available software?

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Joe Kent.

Photo credit; Valery Brozhinsky\Getty

How sophisticated spy-ware can be used to track our everyday activities. Who's watching?

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While some are believed to have strong Syrian connections and are motivated by personal opposition to the government, there are concerns that others have travelled there to join hardline Islamist groups. Jenny Cuffe examines how fighters are recruited and the routes they use to join up with rebel forces. The programme hears from people who have travelled to Syria and asks what danger, if any, they may pose when they return to the UK.

Producer: Paul Grant.

Who are the British jihadists fighting in Syria and could they pose a threat to the UK?

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In this edition of File on 4 Jordan reveals how one shockingly bad experience made him question what protection the largely under-regulated therapy industry gives its patients. He discovers there are no laws against anyone operating as a therapist, psychotherapist or a counsellor in the UK. Many have set themselves up after completing cheap online courses and, as the NHS struggles to cope with demand, the private therapy business is booming. But Jordan discovers at the same time there's been an increase in the number of serious complaints made against psychotherapists and counsellors and finds gaps in the system of regulation for those professionals in whom we entrust our mental health.

Reporter - Jordan Dunbar

Producer - Rob Cave

Editor - Carl Johnston

Image credit; Jane Winder

Jordan Dunbar investigates the therapy business.

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Many parents remain silent out of shame and out of fear of the consequences if they seek help, worried that their child may be taken into care or criminalised. So it's a hidden problem. The issue is now on the government's agenda with a consultation that's aiming to find a common definition for the issue.

Jo Glanville talks to parents, practitioners and researchers about what happens in families when a child becomes violent, what should be done to support them and what lies behind this kind of behaviour.

Presented and produced by Jo Glanville

Executive Editor: Bridget Harney

Research: Maia Miller-Lewis

Studio Manager: Jon Calver

Actors: Jayne Ashbourne and Juliet Cowan

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Some children are violent towards their parents. What's the solution for families?

Some children are violent towards their parents. It's a pattern of behaviour that can begin as young as three years old. What's the solution for families?

Lynden Scourfield, a middle-ranking banker with Halifax Bank of Scotland, accepted bribes in cash, foreign holidays and sexual entertainment. In exchange he would require small business customers to hire a firm of consultants called Quayside Corporate Services.

The consultants claimed to be able to turn the business customers' fortunes around - but the truth was very different. File on 4 follows the story of two small Hbos clients, former rock and rollers, who fought for a decade to expose the fraud, even as the bank sought to repossess their home.

We ask how this could happen, and how to prevent the ongoing mistreatment of small business customers by the banks.

Reporter: Andy Verity

Producer: David Lewis

Editor: Gail Champion.

What protection do small businesses have when banks treat them badly?

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NB This edition has been edited to eliminate any confusion between two people of the same name.

Presenter: Melanie Abbott

Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Andrew Smith

The shocking story of one woman's attempt to escape an Orthodox Jewish community

Thanks to the gregarious pub landlord, who promoted the coin and ran crypto nights, a big chunk of this community where everyone knows everyone put money into the currency. They invested thousands of pounds, in some cases their life savings, but when the currency plummeted months later, they lost it all, leaving the community utterly devastated.

Lucinda Borrell explores the lasting impact on this small village, and asks why this particular crypto coin became so appealing in the first place.

The devastating tale of a community who invested, and lost, thousands in a crypto coin.

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The BBC's Chief Economics correspondent, Hugh Pym, examines businesses caught in this situation and looks at what effect they are having on the UK economy. He hears from business experts who say these companies are partly responsible for the poor levels of growth. They say banks have huge amounts of capital tied up in businesses which are currently going nowhere and that means they have less money available to invest in more dynamic operations which have the ability to grow and create jobs. They say the banks are also unwilling to lend because they need to build up reserves to absorb losses if these businesses eventually fail.

Private equity investors such as Jon Moulton say in some cases the companies should be allowed to fail in order to let new businesses come through. But Hugh speaks to the head of a major bank's restructuring unit which is responsible for managing companies in distress who argues these companies can be nursed back to health and it is better to keep them alive and save jobs.

This decision often involves what is known as forbearance by the banks - where they ease or modify the terms of the loan to give a company breathing space. This is happening not only in business, but in the mortgage market too where billions of pounds of loans have been converted from repayment to interest only.

Some economists warn many of these debts will never be repaid and this means the banks aren't admitting to the true level of losses they are facing. Even the governor of the Bank of England is now warning of the dangers of forbearance and says banks should ensure they have enough funds to be able to draw a line under their losses.

Presenter: Hugh Pym

Producer: Paul Grant.

What effect are so-called zombie companies having on the UK economy? Hugh Pym investigates

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Details of organisations offering information and support with mental health or feelings of despair are available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Producer: Fergus Hewison

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Production Team: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

Editor: Carl Johnston

Why did three friends die while under the care of same mental health trust?

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Frontex, the EU border agency, warns that between 500,000 and 1 million people - Eritreans, Syrians, Afghans, Somalis - could be waiting to leave the shores of Libya for Italy.

Its latest report says resources are being devoted to migrants' care but not towards screening and collecting basic information such as their nationality - which means many are quickly moving on to countries like the UK. According to the report, 'this puts the EU internal security at risk'.

There are also fears terrorists belonging to the so-called Islamic State could secrete themselves among the migrants.

So how easy is it for people to avoid security checks as they journey across the EU?

European countries are supposed to stop illegal migrants and enter their fingerprints and details on a central database. EU rules state that the country where people are first fingerprinted must look after them and consider their asylum applications.

This means many migrants set on coming to this country try to stay under the radar in Italy and France, hoping to reach the UK without being processed.

Jane Deith follows the routes used by some of those headed for Britain.

She also investigates the smugglers who help them - from individuals using their own cars, to organized crime gangs offering money back guarantees on a new life in the UK.

Is Europe losing the battle for control?

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Paul Grant.

Destination UK: Uncovering the back door route for migrants trying to get into the UK.

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Labour and health campaigners accused the Government of caving in to the tobacco lobby. A claim it has denied.

In Europe, too, MEPs are considering a new law aimed at deterring young people from smoking. The Tobacco Products Directive proposes, among other things, a ban on flavoured cigarettes and increasing the size of health warnings.

Jane Deith travels to Brussels and hears claims and counter-claims: of questionable tactics by the tobacco industry and from tobacco lobbyists who say their actions are above board and they have the right to protect their companies' interests.

And she also talks to the main players in an alleged corruption scandal which some say could have brought down the European Commission itself.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Paul Grant.

What influence does the tobacco lobby have in the fight over new laws on cigarettes?

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Producer: David Lewis.

Is religious intolerance growing among Britain's ethnic minorities?

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Next month in England and Wales elections will be held for 41 Police and Crime Commissioners to oversee a continuing patchwork of local forces. The Westminster government sees the Commissioners as signs of its commitment to 'localism'. But seven years ago, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of police said the fragmented network of local forces was 'not fit for purpose'. So, given the cuts the police are facing, is it time for a radical re-organisation south of the border? Gerry Northam investigates.

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Ahead of elections for police commissioners, do we need so many separate police forces?

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Britons who claim they were tortured in the Gulf state's prison cells say the UK government failed to fight for them.

The foreign office has received 43 cases of alleged abuse of UK citizens in the UAE since 2010.

In exclusive interviews, File on 4 hears from those who've got out of detention in Dubai who say they were arrested without charge and subjected to violent treatment and torture.

The UK government says it regularly raises Britons' cases - and allegations of mistreatment - with the UAE authorities. But those who've been stuck there tell File on 4 they didn't get the support they needed and expected when they were suffering, despite the authorities here knowing the risks they faced.

The government's also promoting deals with its largest trading partner in the Middle East.

Jane Deith counts up the billions of UAE investment in the UK, from container ports to housing developments.

And the programme hears the arguments for joint ventures with Emirati companies - for example by NHS hospitals - as a lucrative way to generate income as budgets are squeezed, ultimately providing better services for patients here.

The United Arab Emirates is seen as a stable ally in an unstable Middle East, not least in the fight against Islamic State - does that make the UK less willing to raise issues like human rights abuses and judicial process?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

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But File on 4 has been told that the target will be missed and that it's unachievable. Without the necessary expansion of capability to provide care for people in their own homes or community settings - many still languish in unsafe and unsuitable accommodation, with little prospect of moving on.

What are the implications for people who say they're trapped in the system, with no route out?

Parents fighting to have their children moved to more appropriate environments say they fear for their safety. They paint a picture of a system that is overstretched and at breaking point. Without enough staff to provide the one to one care residents require - some have suffered serious injuries, harm or abuse.

So seven years after Winterbourne View, has enough really changed?

Photo: H. Armstrong Roberts\Stringer\Getty Images

Reporter: Lucy Adams

Producer: Rob Cave

Editor: Gail Champion

Lucy Adams investigates care for the learning disabled seven years after Winterbourne View

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What happened to her and others with learning disabilities who have been promised care in therapeutic community settings?

Following what NHS England called the ‘appalling scandal' at Winterbourne View, the Government promised to close up to half of all inpatient beds for people with a learning disability or autism by March 2019, under a programme called Transforming Care.

Yet this target has been missed. And almost one in 5 patients with learning disabilities still in hospital has now been there for over ten years.

A series of damning reports - most recently from the CQC - have called for urgent reform. So what has gone wrong with Transforming Care?

Reporter: Melanie Abbott

Producers: Helen Clifton & Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion

Are promises to improve care for people with learning disabilities and autism being kept?

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Two years on, probation officers report a system that has been 'ripped apart', with two sides often failing to communicate. There are concerns over rising caseloads, falling staffing levels and the number of murders committed by offenders released from prison on licence.

~File On 4 speaks to families who have lost loved ones, and hears how they have had to fight to find out the full extent of the failings of the probation system in their cases.

Charities report particular concerns over vulnerable women in the probation system, with many being recalled to prison for breaching probation orders, following short sentences for minor offences.

As Transforming Rehabilitation is scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation, File on 4 asks if the changes are putting the public at risk?

Reporter - Melanie Abbott

Producer - Ruth Evans.

Have major changes to the probation system put the public at risk?

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Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Does a leading stroke drug cause more harm than good?

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And he reports from The Netherlands on efforts there to discover the extent of the psychological damage their military personnel may be suffering.

Producer Sally Chesworth.

Is there a hidden epidemic of mental illness among soldiers who've served in Afghanistan?

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Yet in most of the rest of Europe TB rates have been steadily falling in recent years. Health experts have found that cases of TB remain static among people of all ethnicities who were born in Britain. They attribute the national rise in cases to migration from some former British colonies in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian sub-continent.

Airport screening of migrants, using a chest x-ray, identifies only active cases of the disease in the lungs. It misses the much more numerous cases of latent TB which can progress to become active at any time. An estimated 10,000 cases of latent TB arrive undetected in the UK each year.

A nationwide survey of NHS blood-test screening programmes shows that the areas with populations most at risk are also those with least effort put into screening for latent disease. Patients' groups also question the level of GPs' awareness of the many manifestations of tuberculosis, citing cases of repeated missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis which have left patients suffering as the disease advances with sometimes fatal consequences.

Gerry Northam investigates the resurgence of a condition once thought to be all-but eliminated from the UK and asks if the NHS is failing to tackle it.

Producer: Gail Champion

Reporter: Gerry Northam.

Is the NHS failing to tackle the rise in tuberculosis in Britain?

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With Europe now bracing itself for a fresh wave of refugees fleeing conflict, why is it taking so long and costing so much to decide who should be granted asylum here?

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: David Lewis.

With applications rising, is the UK's asylum process reaching crisis point?

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They were not soldiers, activists or politicians. They were civilians, not used to war or how to deal with it.

They kept audio diaries that told a raw truth about loss, hope and even love.

Some packed up and left with their children while others remained in the eye of the storm.

Among them, a language teacher from Mariupol who did not know if her parents were still alive - and a model who was caught up in shelling in Chernihiv.

But what's happened to them since?

~File On 4 tries to trace them, to discover how their lives have changed in four months of war.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

Editor: Carl Johnston

Stories from civilians in war-torn Ukraine.

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Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Maggie Latham

Is the UK's 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme fit for purpose?

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This programme is subject to clarifications. It referred to Dr Justin Schlosberg's tweets about Bucha questioning why a massacre in the city wasn't mentioned until four days after Russian troops had left. File on 4 said: 'Dr Schlosberg highlighted this in his tweet. How could the Mayor have failed to refer to such an atrocity - surely something's up?' In fact this was the presenter's summary of Dr Schlosberg's sentiments, not a direct quote. We also agree that we should have included Dr Schlosberg's explanation that he tweeted because it wasn't clear what was going on in Bucha, that it was right to apply due caution until the UN had done an authoritative investigation and the idea that he was pushing a particular Kremlin narrative is absurd.

The programme also referenced a parliamentary question from Robert Halfon, MP, and some listeners might have concluded that Dr Schlosberg was one of the academics he specifically named for `spreading misinformation` as he put it.

We wish to make it clear that he was not.

More details here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/helpandfeedback/corrections_clarifications/

British academics accused of sharing Russian disinformation about the war in Ukraine.

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Among them, a language teacher from Mariupol who doesn't even know if her parents are still alive - and a young beautician-turned-soldier who now patrols the streets of Kyiv with a Kalashnikov.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

Production team: Jim Booth, Annabel Deas, Nicola Dowling, Hayley Mortimer and Mick Tucker

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Editor: Carl Johnston

People all over Ukraine tell their personal stories of the Russian invasion as it happens.

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Jane Deith talks exclusively to women suing the Metropolitan police claiming they were tricked into long standing relationships with undercover officers.

The unmasking of undercover cop Mark Kennedy who'd been infiltrating environmental protest groups has led to revelations that other officers had relationships with woman they were spying on. The women argue that the state agents they fell in love with used them physically and emotionally. They say the officers intruded into the most personal aspects of their lives causing them lasting damage. Their lawyer claims the relationships were a breach of the women's right to privacy and their right to form relationships without the interference of the state.

Yet there are no hard guidelines on undercover officers sleeping with 'targets'. The rules of engagement are shrouded in secrecy. Police chiefs have said the officers broke the rules, yet former undercover policemen say sex was sanctioned as a means of gathering intelligence. And the Government has told Parliament affairs like this can be a necessary part of undercover work.

So is forming intimate relationships a legitimate part of a difficult and vital area of policing, or an abuse of power by the state?

And, from environmental protest to serious and organised crime, how much do we really know about the secret methods of undercover policing?

Presenter: Jane Deith

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

How far should undercover police be allowed to go to gather intelligence?

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That's what influencers tell their followers. Some are also happy to provide a 'how-to guide' to obtaining the perfect body. What they don't mention though, is that they are cashing in, being paid by clinics to promote procedures, some of which are risky and dangerous.

It's a story that begins on social media. Young women posting online about their experiences of plastic surgery. The online videos, posted to their followers, show their surgeon smile and wave for the camera.

But a big part of their stories is missing. They're not normal patients. Because these influencers have access to a market of thousands of other young women, they get their surgery for free in exchange for the promotions. Offline the situation is less than picture perfect. File on 4 hears from the women whose lives were changed by the pursuit of the perfect body.

Producer: Kate West

Reporter: Joice Etutu

Editor: Gail Champion

The relationship between social media influencers and clinics promoting cosmetic surgery.

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Producer: Anna Meisel

Editor: Gail Champion

What did the government get for the \u00a312.5 billion it spent on PPE for NHS staff?

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Official figures paint a patchy picture and some companies have already been sanctioned for not meeting targets. Their record has been particularly poor for claimants whose illness or disability makes it hard to find a job.

Despite this, the Chancellor recently announced an addition to the scheme - called Help to Work - which places new demands on those the Work Programme has failed to move into employment.

But, with the economy still struggling in many areas, is it asking too much? Gerry Northam investigates.

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Is the government's flagship Work Programme working? Gerry Northam investigates.

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Stephen Grey investigates the relationship between the US and the UK security services.

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Reporter: Jenny Chryss Producer: Ruth Evans.

Are people damaged by vaccines being short-changed by the government?

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Presenter: Jane Deith Producer: David Lewis.

Jane Deith examines new research into violent behaviour by soldiers returning from combat.

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The Medical Superintendent is accused of 'experimenting' on his child patients, giving them an anaesthetic called sodium amytal in therapy sessions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Phil Kemp investigates the history of this treatment, which was used on shell shocked soldiers during World War Two, employed as a 'truth serum' by police and intelligence agencies, and by the 80's had become implicated in false memory cases. The hospital closed in 2004 and the Medical Superintendent died in 1976, leaving his patients struggling to make sense of what happened to them at Aston Hall.

Although treatment records reveal the sodium amytal was used on some children, former patients question what really went on while they were drugged. File on 4 opens the medical archives and hears from former staff to piece together a troubled chapter in the history of psychiatric care, and in the lives of former patients.

Reporter - Phil Kemp

Producer - Ruth Evans.

Why were children injected with a so-called truth serum at Aston Hall Hospital?

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The toxic legacy of the UK's tens of thousands of underground waste dumps.

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Campaigners said the disaster should be a 'game changer' in forcing international brands who source cheap clothes in Bangladesh to take more responsibility for conditions within the factories they use. Safety inspections of hundreds of premises are due to begin in earnest. But the Western manufacturers are split on who should pay for expensive improvements - the clothing brands or the factory owners? It's estimated that it could cost $3bn to bring all the factories up to scratch.

But there are those who argue that Western shoppers who buy the cheap clothes, and the brands that sell them, don't deserve all the blame. The Bangladeshi government continues to limit the power of trade unions and is accused of failing to act against powerful manufacturing bosses when people die in their factories.

The safety campaigners agree that Western brands pulling out of Bangladesh would be the worst result for the country's four million garment workers and the families who rely on their earnings.

So is it possible to keep them in work and keep them safe?

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

In London fashion week, Jane Deith reports from Bangladesh on safety for textile workers.

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With their incomes squeezed by benefit reform and grant cuts, many are taking a more commercial approach. But there's concern some are taking too many financial risks.

And MPs have voiced fears that the regulator charged with monitoring the associations' viability is not up to the job.

Fran Abrams investigates.

Reporter: Fran Abrams

Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Homes at risk? Are housing associations trying to gamble their way out of a crisis?

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Last month, two men alleged to be members of National Action - a banned extreme far right group - were charged in connection with an alleged plot to kill an MP.

Adrian Goldberg investigates the current face of the far right in the UK today and hears from their victims.

He meets the former soldier who intervened after a far right extremist tried to behead a Sikh man and challenges the Austrian leader of a group called Generation Identity which launched in the UK only last month.

They are part of a Europe wide group of so called 'Identitarians' who say their aim is to protect cultural identity. But their target is clear. Members unfurled a banner over Westminster bridge in London which declared 'Defend London, Stop Islamisation.

Experts say there is now growing cross border co-operation between far right groups in Europe, the UK and America.

Jewish communities are also worried about the rise in the far right and growing anti-Semitic attacks. A student who highlighted far right posters being put up at her university was forced to move after a hate campaign which included her face being superimposed on pictures of holocaust victims. Businesses have been firebombed and some members of the Jewish community say they are so concerned they are considering leaving the country.

The programme reveals new research on the scale of far right extremism on-line. Thousands of people in the UK have been identified as having violent extremist thoughts. Former extremists have been brought in to try to persuade people to change their views. But are they listening?

Presenter: Adrian Goldberg

Producer: Paul Grant

Editor: Gail Champion.

What threat do the new and emerging far right groups pose to the UK?

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Reporter Divya Talwar hears from women who have been investigated on suspicion of procuring illegal abortions, meets one woman who was prosecuted and sentenced, and hears from a journalist who believes the law is proportionate. File on 4 reveals that in some cases, women who have experienced pregnancy loss and premature deliveries are also being investigated on suspicion of having illegal abortions.

There have been growing calls from campaigners and MPs to scrap the Victorian law that criminalises abortion in England and Wales and replace with medical regulation instead - as is the case in Northern Ireland. While some say the law doesn't need to be changed, others believe urgent reform is required so women involved are treated with compassion instead of being punished.

Reporter: Divya Talwar

Producers: Anna Meisel and Eleanor Layhe

Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley

Editor: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston

Image Credit: MartinPrescott\Getty

The women investigated on suspicion of procuring illegal abortions.

Divya Talwar hears from women who have been investigated on suspicion of procuring illegal abortions including one woman who was prosecuted and sentenced.

~File On 4 tells the story behind the killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.

A decision four years ago to cut training places to save money is still haunting the health service. There's no shortage of people wanting to be nurses but the NHS is badly understaffed.

Recruitment in countries like Spain, Portugal and Italy has quadrupled in the last year as NHS trusts fail to find enough domestic nurses. But with thousands of European nurses encouraged to come here with incentives like relocation bonuses and free accommodation, why are hospitals still breaking guidelines on the level of acceptable vacancies? And how much has that contributed to the winter crisis in Accident and Emergency Units across the country?

Hospitals aren't the only area of concern. Professional bodies like the RCN say there has been a reduction in the number of experienced senior nurses working in the community. Has the recent focus on increasing nurses on hospital wards meant other areas have suffered? And what impact will that have on the Government's long term plan to solve our hospital crisis by caring for more patients at home?

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Gemma Newby.

With so much pressure on the NHS, why are we still so short of nurses? Jane Deith reports.

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Reporter: Michael Buchanan

Producer: Katie Langton

Editor: Carl Johnston

The NHS whistleblowers punished for raising concerns.

How NHS whistleblowers are punished for raising concerns about bad practice and bad practitioners in the NHS.

Lucy Letby was allowed to continue working with new-born babies despite her colleagues raising concerns about her for months. Her conviction highlighted how NHS executives put the reputation of the Countess of Chester NHS Trust ahead of patient safety. But what happened in Cheshire was far from a one-off. File on 4 hears from doctors with unblemished medical careers who were sacked for raising patient safety concerns. The programme follows one medic through an Employment Tribunal as he attempts to save his career, and hears the emotional, brutal toll the process takes on him. For the first time, a top doctor who won record damages talks about the extraordinary steps her managers took to undermine her. Their tactics included relocating her to an empty office with a broken chair and telling colleagues that she agreed with their assessment she was incompetent. And a former NHS executive tells the programme that trusts are more interested in “flying LGBT flags ? than tackling concerns about patient safety. With widespread calls for NHS managers to be regulated, File on 4 asks who should take on the role, given the willingness of the NHS to redeploy managers found to have ignored patient safety concerns, or even punished those who dared to raise them.

Reporter: Melanie Abbott

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Nicola Addyman

Melanie Abbott reveals that thousands of police officers do not have adequate vetting.

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Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Why, ten years on, does one of the biggest murder cases in Scotland remain unsolved?

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~File On 4 hears from victims living in mortgage-free homes who have been targeted by criminal gangs.

Shari Vahl investigates the adequacy of safeguards to property rights in Britain.

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The popularity of right to buy has risen sharply since greater discounts were introduced four years ago, but so too have cases of fraud as people seek to exploit discounts of up to nearly £104,000.

Simon Cox goes on the trail of the fraudsters and the companies seeking to make big bucks out of right to buy. He discovers people trying to buy homes they're not entitled to and criminals attempting to launder drugs money.

He investigates companies who offer tenants help to buy their home in order to get their hands on valuable properties.

He also hears concerns from experts that many housing associations do not have the resources and skills to prevent fraud which could potentially result in the loss of millions of pounds worth of much needed homes

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Paul Grant.

Is the scheme that allows council tenants to buy their own homes open to fraud and abuse?

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There have been calls for improved care in hospital labour wards and an increase in research efforts to discover why so many apparently perfectly normal babies die.

However there is growing concern that in some hospitals, these deaths are not being properly investigated. Parents report difficulties in finding out full details of what went wrong. Shortages of specialist pathologists have meant that crucial post-mortem examinations are never carried out. And the inquest system is patchy when it comes to discovering the cause of a new born baby's death.

Ann Alexander investigates.

Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Ann Alexander asks why the UK has some of the highest rates of stillbirths in Europe.

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No area has been harder hit by the redundancies than the Nottinghamshire town of Worksop, where Wilko employed 1,200 people at its head office, shop and distribution centre.

Citizen's Advice has been helping those affected warning that debt in the town was at a record level before the collapse and has doubled since this time last year.

Reporter Jane Deith has been following the lives of several former Wilko staff as they attempt to find new jobs.

Producer: Matt Pintus

Reporter: Jane Deith

Technical Producer: Craig Boardman

Production Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Jordan King

Editor: Tara McDermott

The town where thousands of Wilko workers lost their jobs.

No area has been harder hit by the collapse of retailer Wilko than Worksop in Nottinghamshire. File on 4 follows former staff as they attempt to claw their way back into work.

~File On 4

~File On 4 investigates the reasons for the hold ups. What's the impact of these delays on the public purse and on our military capability?

The government's promising a beefed up armed forces, including two new Typhoon squadrons and F35 jets. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson says the UK needs to be ready to use 'hard power' or risk being seen as little more than a paper tiger. But with the MoD's flying training still not at full throttle, will a lack of pilots undermine our military capability?

Reporter: Jane Deith

Producer: Mick Tucker

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo Credit: Christopher Furlong\Getty

An investigation into delays in the training of military pilots. Why is there a backlog?

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But stigma and stereotyping around female perpetrated abuse means it can be seen as a lesser crime, with many victims deeply reluctant to report their ordeal to the authorities.

Experts tell File on 4 that current case numbers are the ‘tip of the iceberg', while the early indicators of abuse, like online grooming and social media befriending, can be brushed aside when the abuser is a woman.

~File On 4 hears from adult survivors who describe decades of trauma and shame caused by their female abusers, as well as the difficulties they faced in reporting the crime.

Psychologists and campaigners say the criminal justice system urgently needs to better support victims to give evidence.

They describe how abusers are still able to take advantage of laws that leave children in informal settings, such as sports clubs and choirs, open to abuse, settings where female abusers can thrive.

And although societal perceptions of female child sexual abuse are changing, many deeply traumatised victims risk being left behind.

Reporter: Melanie Abbott

Producer: Helen Clifton

Editor: Gail Champion

The hidden victims of female child sexual abuse, fighting for justice - and closure.

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Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: David Lewis.

Simon Cox meets migrants working in Britain illegally.

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Campaigners and detainees tell File on 4 about 'a culture of disbelief' which they say exists among healthcare staff and which they claim is putting women at risk.

Serco - the company that runs the centre - insists it provides a good standard of care, but a former member of staff, speaking publicly for the first time, says concerns he raised were ignored by senior managers.

The programme also investigates claims of inappropriate sexual contact between staff and detainees and allegations of sexual abuse by staff.

Several employees were dismissed last year over sexual encounters with women being held at the centre and the House of Commons Home Affairs select committee have called the managing director of Serco to give evidence about the sexual abuse claims.

Simon Cox investigates - and hears why some MPs believe it is time for the centre to be closed.

Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Simon Cox investigates conditions in Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre.

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Today there are three units in England, Medway in Rochester, Oakhill in Milton Keynes and Rainsbrook in Rugby, which provide 30 hours of education a week as part of the rehabilitation process.

But the units have been dogged by serious concerns over the treatment of young people, including allegations of abuse, the inappropriate use of restraint and unsafe living conditions.

~File On 4 investigates youth custody and reveals the scale of concern about life in secure training centres.

The Government has acknowledged there have been unacceptable levels of violence in youth custody and has recently announced a new generation of secure schools, which promise to equip young offenders with the skills to live successful, crime-free lives.

~File On 4 asks whether these new facilities will be the long-term solution to turning young offenders' lives around.

Reporter: Simon Cox

Producer: Ben Robinson

Editor: Gail Champion

Photo Credit: Press Association

Are young offenders being failed by the system meant to protect them?

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