Podcasts by File on 4

Whistling in the Wind: The NHS doctors sacked after raising concerns from 2023-12-05T20:40

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 ...

Artificial Intelligence: The Criminal Threat from 2023-11-28T20:40

Artificial intelligence, or AI, makes it possible for machines to learn - and in the future it will perform many tasks now done by humans. But are criminals and bad actors ahead of the curve? AI...

Lost in Translation from 2023-11-21T20:30

When people who don't speak English, including refugees arriving in the UK after fleeing war, they are entitled to receive the support of interpreters when dealing with public sector organisatio...

Disability and the Adult Industry from 2023-11-07T20:00

As a young person, Ellen Macleod wasn’t sure whether her disabilities would mean she could never have sex so she turned to the internet. There she found porn featuring disabled adults, but those...

The Anatomy of a Fraud from 2023-10-24T19:40

File on 4 highlights one fraud phone call, in order to shine a light on how scammers work. A man rings a company pretending to be from the bank. How does he persuade a victim he is legitimate?...

Wilko Town from 2023-10-17T15:37

The collapse of retail giant Wilko in September left 12,500 people out of work across the UK.

No area has been harder hit by the redundancies than the Nottinghamshire town of Worksop, whe...

Bankrupt Birmingham from 2023-10-10T18:39

A perfect storm of equal pay claims and a huge overspend on an IT project has brought Europe’s largest local authority to its knees. But how did Birmingham go from the triumph of hosting the Com...

Security Threat: Sham training courses risk public safety from 2023-10-02T19:23

The Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017 left 22 people dead and more than a thousand injured. The subsequent inquiry found security arrangements were lacking with some security staff admit...

The Dark Side of Ballet from 2023-09-11T15:57

Hayley Hassall investigates accusations of bullying and body-shaming at some of the UK’s elite ballet schools. File on 4 and Panorama have spoken to more than 50 ex-students of the Royal Ballet ...

The Crooked House from 2023-09-08T10:30

The Crooked House: One summer’s night the Crooked House, known as Britain’s wonkiest pub, caught fire. Less than 48 hours later the ruins were knocked to the ground, completely destroying an ico...

A Different Class: Excluded kids lured into crime from 2023-08-29T12:31

After an inevitable decline during the pandemic, school exclusions are again on the increase. There are concerns that behaviour is worse because, post pandemic, children can’t regulate their beh...

Jon Holmes, Generation Shame from 2023-08-22T15:40

Last year a Parliamentary Report concluded that between 1949 and 1976, around 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were put up for adoption in England and Wales, many of these by force. For Fil...

The Wolf of Crypto from 2023-08-01T19:37

Set in the belly of rural England, the small village of Winchmore Hill is a far cry from the world of privileged tech bros and slick silicon valley investors, often associated with crypto curren...

Modern Slavery in the Care Sector from 2023-07-25T19:40

With the number of potential modern slavery cases in England and Wales at a record level, File on 4 investigates how vulnerable people are being targeted and exploited by organised crime groups ...

The Epilepsy Drug Scandal from 2023-07-18T19:40

It’s been called a bigger scandal than Thalidomide. The drug sodium valproate is estimated to have harmed 20,000 children in the UK.

It’s mainly used to treat epilepsy and other condition...

The GP Crisis from 2023-07-11T19:40

The morning rush in a doctor’s surgery usually begins around 8am, before the doors even open, as patients ring up to try and get a precious appointment. But why is it so hard to get to see a GP,...

The Organ Harvesters from 2023-06-26T23:01

File on 4 tells the story of a young street trader from Lagos who revealed a conspiracy that took down one of Nigeria’s most powerful politicians. The young man was tested, trafficked and tricke...

Scout's Honour? from 2023-06-13T19:40

Nearly half a million young people in the UK are members of the Scout Association. The organisation employs 143,000 adult volunteers and leads the way in nurturing a love of the outdoors and pro...

Living with Antisocial Behaviour from 2023-06-06T19:40

Earlier this year, the government announced their new plan to stamp out antisocial behaviour across England and Wales.

Hot spot policing and what they call ‘immediate justice’ will be tri...

Sex Attacks in Hospitals from 2023-05-23T19:40

When you go to hospital you expect to be safe. But File on 4 has discovered that many patients and staff who are victims of sex attacks say not enough is done to deal with the perpetrators - and...

Affirmative Action on Trial from 2023-05-16T19:40

For 40 years, affirmative action policies were created in the United States to address a lack of women and people of colour in the workplace and at university. They have been questioned before, ...

Sex education: Too much too young? from 2023-05-09T19:40

File on 4 investigates claims that children are being taught graphic and age-inappropriate material as part of their Relationship and Sex Education.

The government has brought forward a re...

Oiling Putin’s War? from 2023-05-02T19:40

File on 4 investigates the secretive world of oil shipping, dark fleets and camouflaged cargos. Sanctions were supposed to hit President Putin in the pocket, weakening his military capabilities...

Police Complaints: A Crisis of Confidence from 2023-04-11T19:40

Britain’s biggest police force says there are hundreds of rogue officers amongst its ranks. It’s now The Met’s job to root them out, with dozens of staff diverted away from organised crime and c...

Probation in peril from 2023-04-04T19:40

The Probation Service is meant to protect the public by monitoring released prisoners and offenders on community sentences - helping them to stay out of trouble and rebuild their lives. But a s...

Rental Health: The Social Housing Perfect Storm? from 2023-03-21T20:40

Social housing providers say they are under more financial pressure than ever before. The sector has warned long-term Government funding cuts and the cost of improving homes to meet new fire sa...

Punished for being mentally ill from 2023-03-15T16:03

Suicide or attempted suicide is not a criminal offence. But, as Adrian Goldberg discovers, mentally ill people are still being punished for attempts to take their own lives. They can be charged ...

Missing Migrant Children from 2023-03-07T20:40

200 children have gone missing from hotels used by the Home Office to temporarily house lone asylum seekers. File on 4 investigates what’s being done to find them and why so many have disappear...

Looking for Levi from 2023-02-28T20:48

Levi Davis - a 24-year-old rugby player and X-Factor star went missing in Barcelona at the end of October last year. He’s not been seen or heard from since. Four months on, File on 4 pieces tog...

Firefighters on Trial from 2023-02-21T20:40

A damning report into the culture of London Fire Brigade found a toxic mix of racism, sexism, misogyny and bullying. Launched after a young firefighter of colour took his own life, the review in...

Three Friends from 2023-02-14T20:40

They were born in the same month of the same year: Emily, Nadia, and Christie. The three young women who lived close to each other in the North East of England became friends, their lives inter...

Living with Andrew Tate from 2023-02-07T20:40

A British woman tells File on 4 about her relationship with controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate, claiming that he pressurised her to work for his webcam company and that he was con...

Learning to survive: The School Fighting the Cost of Living Crisis from 2023-01-24T20:44

This episode tells the story of a primary school on the frontline of the cost of living crisis, a school doing more than most to make sure children are fed, warm and have somewhere safe to go ho...

Catastrophe at the Academy from 2023-01-17T20:40

File on 4 investigates events that led to the death of two people at London's Brixton O2 Academy in December. The venue was shut down after the fatal crowd crush ahead of a concert by the Nigeri...

Abandoned in Afghanistan from 2023-01-10T20:40

18 months after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, File on 4 hears from people still stuck in hiding; their names blacklisted because of the work they did for the British.

Following the ...

How did my child die? The crisis in paediatric pathology from 2023-01-03T20:40

The death of a child causes parents’ unimaginable grief, but this is being exacerbated by long delays to post mortem reports due to a shortage of pathologists in the UK. The number of paediatric...

Cost of Living Forcing Children into Care from 2022-12-20T20:40

The cost of living crisis is placing huge pressure on families across the country, many of whom were already living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet. Now social services say the pres...

Albanian Exodus from 2022-11-08T20:40

Their country is not at war and it's not ruled by an authoritarian regime, yet thousands of young Albanians are making the dangerous journey across the channel to live and work in the UK.

High Anxiety: The Deadly Trade in Street Valium from 2022-11-01T20:40

They’re cheap – but they’re also deadly. Illegal pills costing as little as 50p each are contributing to the deaths of hundreds of people each year in Scotland. Now an expert is warning benzodia...

Roblox: A Dangerous Game? from 2022-10-25T19:40

Before Covid the US gaming platform Roblox was one of many online games children played. Following lockdown and millions of children isolating at home, the company now has a market value of $22b...

Is the Patient Breathing? from 2022-10-18T19:40

From the harrowing 999 calls of people waiting for an ambulance to the paramedics stretched to breaking point, File on 4 goes on the frontline of the ambulance crisis. Rachel Stonehouse speaks t...

The Brain Drain from 2022-10-11T19:40

Paul Kenyon investigates the ‘brain drain’ of doctors from developing countries to work in the UK. The large scale recruitment of foreign doctors from nations with the greatest need to retain th...

Leicester: Behind the Divide from 2022-10-04T19:40

Leicester is one of the most diverse cities in England – often presented as a shining example multi-cultural Britain. But tensions between some factions have been brewing in the city for months ...

Isobel's Story from 2022-09-27T19:40

There are concerns that British victims of trafficking are less likely than foreign nationals to receive Home Office support to escape exploitation. More and more British victims of organised se...

Justice on Trial from 2022-09-06T19:40

It was to be one of the most ambitious just reform programmes in the world – a ‘common platform’ that would share information between the courts, lawyers and police, from arrest to court. But th...

Assaulted by my massage therapist from 2022-07-12T19:40

The massage industry has bounced back since covid, but File on 4 investigates the darker side of this industry. Hannah Price speaks to women who were sexually assaulted by massage therapists. In...

Ukraine War Stories: What Happened Next? from 2022-07-05T19:40

In March 2022, File on 4 told the stories of six people whose lives were changed forever by war in Ukraine. They were not soldiers, activists or politicians. They were civilians, not used to war...

Children’s Homes: Profits Before Care? from 2022-06-28T19:40

Last month an independent children’s social care review concluded that providing care for children in residential homes 'should not be based on profit'. The government response was that they hav...

Dementia: The Final Indignity from 2022-06-21T19:40

Around 800,000 people have dementia in the UK. For those suffering from the illness, incontinence can often be seen an inevitable consequence - but that’s not always the case. Deemed as too emb...

Sibling Sexual Abuse: The Last Taboo? from 2022-06-14T19:40

With exclusive access to research – the first of its kind – reporter Livvy Haydock investigates what could be the most common form of sexual abuse that happens within families: sibling sexual ab...

Gambling on Justice from 2022-06-07T19:40

Gambling is a multi-billion pound industry which is facing change. For years there has been mounting concern that in the digital era betting companies have expanded far beyond the reach of the ...

Ukraine: The Disinformation War from 2022-05-31T19:40

Russia’s response to accusations of war crimes in Ukraine has been to blame the Ukrainians of bombing their own side. Some people here in the UK have been sharing this version of the war on soci...

Searching Questions from 2022-05-25T10:17

Why are a disproportionate number of black children being strip searched? File on 4 hears from teenagers taken in for a ‘strippy’ so often, it’s become part of life. The strip search of ‘Child Q...

Ukraine: Taking in the Trauma from 2022-05-17T19:40

More than 150 thousand people have signed up to the UK’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme - hoping to open their doors to those desperately fleeing the war. But it’s a process that has been dogged wit...

Locking Up the Sick from 2022-05-10T19:40

Almost half of all the seriously mentally ill people in prison assessed as needing hospital treatment are being refused the help they need. In this episode of File on 4, Shell and "Ian" tell us ...

Ukraine: War Stories from 2022-03-15T20:40

Day by day, hour by hour, people all over Ukraine tell the story of the Russian invasion. We hear from people packing up and leaving with their children and those who remain in the eye of the st...

Controlling My Birth Control from 2022-03-08T20:40

Reproductive coercion: a form of abuse you've probably never heard of.

From deliberately sabotaging contraceptives to forcing someone to have an abortion, it is used to gain power and cont...

The Paedophile Preacher from 2022-03-01T20:40

File on 4 tells the story of a charismatic preacher on the run from British police for child sex offences. Three years ago, File on 4 tracked him down to an impoverished Roma community in Bulgar...

Subscription Scams from 2022-02-22T20:40

From pills that resolve chronic pain issues overnight to diet supplements which promise to help shed pounds in days, the internet is awash with adverts making bold claims. Some come with a celeb...

A First Class Scandal from 2022-02-16T15:30

Two years ago File on 4 investigated how a computer system, called Horizon, was behind what has now become one of the biggest miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen. Hundreds of inno...

Drink spiking from 2022-02-08T20:40

After an alarming rise in complaints of drink spiking last year, and reports of people being injected with syringes, Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to women who say they have been “spiked” and fin...

Missing Evidence from 2022-02-01T20:40

Michael Cowan investigates the consequences for victims of crime and those accused of offences when crucial evidence goes missing or is lost by police forces. He speaks to a man who says he is ...

Deadly Delays: The Ambulance Crisis from 2022-01-25T20:40

Record ambulance delays are leaving patients waiting hours for emergency care to arrive with waiting times increasing every month. Some patients wait hours at home, many wait outside the hospita...

Mental health rehab - the forgotten patients from 2022-01-18T20:40

The NHS is sending patients with the most complex mental health needs to spend months or even years in specialist rehabilitation units, with the promise of helping them to recover. Adam Eley spe...

Hunting the Darknet Dealers from 2022-01-11T20:40

The high stakes cat and mouse game between police and darknet drug dealers Police say they are finally turning the tide on drug dealers selling on the darknet – a secretive part of the internet...

Am I in a Cult? from 2021-11-23T20:40

How do you know if you’ve been recruited by a cult? Rachel Stonehouse investigates claims there are up to 2,000 cults currently operating in the UK. We talk to young people who say they were rec...

Who is policing the police? from 2021-11-16T20:40

With the murder of Sarah Everard shining a light on police vetting procedures, File on 4 reveals that thousands of officers have still not been re-vetted to standards brought in in 2006. As a pu...

Furlough Fraud from 2021-11-09T20:40

An estimated £66 billion was spent by the government during the pandemic on paying towards the wages of people who couldn’t work, or whose employers could no longer afford to pay them. That’s ar...

Controlled, Abused and Criminalised from 2021-11-02T20:40

Livvy Haydock investigates whether women are being unfairly treated by the criminal justice system when coercive and controlling behaviour by a partner is behind their offences. Six years ago, t...

For Richer, For Poorer from 2021-10-26T19:40

With an ageing population, it’s estimated that over one million people in the UK will be living with dementia by 2025. But what happens when someone with the condition is deliberately targeted...

Pandora Papers: From Bribery to the British High Street from 2021-10-05T19:40

Amongst the millions of documents released in the ‘Pandora Papers’ leak of offshore financial information are a number of documents that one family business would rather have remained hidden. Listen

Occupational Hazard: The bus drivers who died from Covid from 2021-09-28T19:40

During the pandemic, it’s been one of the most dangerous occupations in the land, with a death rate similar to that of frontline nurses. Sixty London bus drivers have died of Covid-19, and yet t...

Mental Health Profiteers from 2021-09-21T19:40

Mental health profiteers: The dark world of online anxiety ‘cures’. Jane Deith and Jordan Dunbar investigate the rogue operators exploiting the long wait for mental health services on the NHS. T...

Hush Money: the Rise and Fall of an International Fraudster from 2021-09-14T19:40

File on 4 reveals the inside story of Ramon Abbas, one of a new breed of prolific global cyber fraudsters. As Abbas awaits sentencing in the US for money-laundering, File on 4 asks if enough is ...

Tackling Online Abuse in Football from 2021-09-07T19:40

When three black England footballers missed penalties in the Euro 2020 football final they were bombarded with online racist abuse. The Football Association condemned the ‘offensive and racist’ ...

Held to Ransom from 2021-07-13T19:40

The extraordinary story of a UK schools group which took on a cyber ransomware gang.

The Harris Federation seems an unlikely target for ransomware criminals but it found itself at the cen...

Acts of Abuse from 2021-07-06T19:40

Allegations of bullying and sexual harassment against the actor and film maker Noel Clarke have led to an industry-wide examination of the culture within the film and television business. Indust...

A Death Sentence? from 2021-06-29T19:40

A death sentence? The inmates dying after poor prison healthcare. More prisoners are dying in jail – even after you account for the growing - and ageing -prison population. Many of those found...

Contracts of Interest from 2021-06-22T19:40

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an urgent need for a range of new government contracts which resulted in billions of pounds of public money being spent under emergency powers which suspended usual ...

Above the law? from 2021-06-15T19:40

Since reporting on a story about police abuses earlier this year reporter Anna Adams has been inundated with calls and messages from women all telling her the same thing; they were a victim at t...

The Cost of Care from 2021-06-08T19:40

File on 4 investigates the new challenges of providing home care during the Covid-19 pandemic - with some recipients seeing their care costs increased while their hours are reduced.

Explor...

Leaseholder Losses from 2021-06-01T19:40

The government recently introduced new laws to protect leaseholders from large ground rent increases. But campaigners say more widespread changes are needed to properly protect the millions of l...

Sexual Abuse in Schools from 2021-05-25T19:15

In 2016 the House of Common’s Women and Equalities Committee published a report into sexual harassment and abuse between pupils in British schools. In concluded that the scale and impact was suc...

The Cost of Long Covid from 2021-05-18T19:40

Latest figures show more than a million people in Britain are suffering from long Covid. For many the condition is completely debilitating. The extreme fatigue, breathing difficulties, brain-fog...

Britain's Ghost Companies from 2021-05-11T19:40

Tens of thousands of men and women in some of the poorest parts of the Philippines are being recruited to be directors of companies based in the UK. Companies which have no offices or full time ...

The Asylum Business - the UK's hidden housing crisis from 2021-03-16T20:40

The multi-billion pound AASC contract is the Government's ten-year blueprint for how those seeking asylum in the UK are treated while they await a yes or no for their refugee status. After a yea...

The Disinformation Dragon from 2021-03-09T20:40

Prior to the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s presence on international social media was largely to promote a positive image of its country – trying to ‘change...

Shipping’s Dirty Secret from 2021-03-02T20:40

The shipping industry is worth millions to the British economy and we depend on it for most of our goods. File on 4 lifts the lid on the dangerous and polluting world of shipbreaking and investi...

The Dangers of Dating Apps from 2021-02-23T20:40

Millions of us each year pick up our phone and swipe right in the hope of finding ‘the one’, and with the pandemic limiting even the most basic of social interactions, statistics suggest more of...

Surviving Self-Harm from 2021-02-16T20:30

Sarah (not her real name) first deliberately hurt herself at the age of 11 and continued for more than six years, twice ending up in hospital. Now 18 and on the road to recovery, she says her ex...

Unmasked: Stories from the PPE Frontline from 2021-02-09T20:40

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, reserves of personal protective equipment quickly dried up. Stories about frontline staff lacking the kit they needed made headlines night after night and photo...

Covid 19: Doctors and Deniers from 2021-02-02T20:40

When Prime Minister Boris Johnson said three households would be allowed to mix for 5 days over Christmas, experts and NHS bosses warned the health service would be overwhelmed by cases of Covid...

Danger at Work from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Following the recent first conviction and hefty fine under new Corporate Manslaughter legislation, the UK's health and safety regime has been hailed a success. Falling death and accident rates appe...

Doctors in Charge from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Success of the Government's proposed NHS reforms in England rests on family doctors. GPs will be responsible for commissioning treatment for their patients, and managing the £80 billion NHS budget....

Airport Woes from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Business travel and Christmas holidays were ruined for hundreds of thousands of people by snow. While many airports abroad bounced back quickly from bad weather, some in Britain began to resemble r...

Shaken Babies? from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Each year, around 250 parents and carers are accused of killing or injuring children by shaking them or inflicting some other form of head injury. But an acrimonious scientific debate over the theo...

Tolerating the Intolerant? from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Reporter Jenny Cuffe investigates claims that one of the groups behind the blasphemy law in Pakistan is also active in the UK. The religious extremists are accused of spreading a hate message again...

Homes but no loans from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Homes but no loans. Despite the threat of a new slide in house prices and rising levels of negative equity, the number of property-buyers having their homes repossessed has declined over the past y...

A Year of Covid from 2021-01-26T20:40

A year ago this week, the first reported case of Covid-19 was recorded in the UK. Within weeks frontline medics faced their toughest ever test. Doctors and nurses in intensive care units recorde...

Women Who Abuse from 2021-01-19T20:40

Women are seen as the caring, nurturing sex, safe to be left in charge of children.

But stigma and stereotyping around female perpetrated abuse means it can be seen as a lesser crime, with...

Undue Influence from 2021-01-12T20:40

In the age of social media and the selfie, the perfect look is everything.

That's what influencers tell their followers. Some are also happy to provide a 'how-to guide' to obtaining the p...

Transforming Care? from 2020-11-10T20:40

Back in 2018, File on 4 revealed the story of Bethany – an autistic teenager who had been locked in a hospital room alone for two years, her only contact with the outside world through a hatch. ...

Reynhard Sinaga: Britain’s most prolific rapist from 2020-11-03T20:40

In January, Reynhard Sinaga was convicted of 159 sexual offences against 48 different men over the course of four trials. But according to police, there’s evidence he abused more than 200 men w...

Locked Up in Lockdown from 2020-10-27T20:40

Are court backlogs creating miscarriages of justice? When the UK locked down, so did its court system, adding to a backlog that’s left defendants, witnesses and victims facing long waits for tri...

Taxing Situations from 2020-10-20T19:40

For decades there was a boom in tax avoidance where people were paid using loans – and lowered their tax bills in the process. The boom went bust when the government clamped down, leaving some u...

All Sewn Up from 2020-10-13T19:40

An investigation into a network of companies involved in VAT fraud within Leicester's garment manufacturing industry.

After questions were raised in the summer about slave wages and unsaf...

Me and my Trolls from 2020-10-06T19:40

During the pandemic, more and more of our lives have been lived online. But that has also led to a sharp rise in the number of people being targeted by internet trolls. According to one survey, ...

Fit for football from 2020-09-29T19:40

MPs and supporters are calling for an overhaul of the way English football is governed after a series of clubs were hit by financial problems. Bolton wanderers, Wigan Athletic and Charlton have ...

Expecting alone: The isolation of pregnancy during Covid from 2020-09-22T19:40

Six months since Britain was instructed to ‘stay at home’, File on 4 examines the decisions that affect new mothers and their babies and asks if the potential for long term damage outweighs the ...

Mental health killings – a crisis in care? from 2020-09-15T19:40

Last month Alex Sartain took a homemade gun and shot his neighbour James Nash dead in his front garden. The 34 year old then fled on his motorbike before he lost control and fatally crashed on ...

Covid 19: The Long Road to Recovery from 2020-09-08T19:40

After Coronavirus, the survivors left with life-changing and long term conditions. The physical and psychological aftermath of Covid 19 and the pressure on rehabilitation services. Nearly 3 mill...

Groomed, abused and put in prison: Rochdale’s untold story from 2020-07-14T19:40

How does an abused teenager get a criminal record while her abusers walk free? This is untold story of the Rochdale grooming scandal - how one young woman has been denied justice and how her att...

Mental Health: The Next Pandemic? from 2020-07-07T19:40

Lockdown is easing now as worries about physical ill-health recede. But could the stress and anxiety of the last few months lead to a second wave of the epidemic - one centred on the nation's me...

Racism in the Police from 2020-06-30T19:40

With the words ‘I can’t breathe’ reverberating around the world, the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK has put the issue of racial justice at the top of the political agenda. Twenty-one year...

The Neo-Nazi Network from 2020-06-23T19:40

Last year, a 16-year-old boy from Durham became the youngest person ever convicted of planning a terrorist attack in the UK, spurring reporter Daniel De Simone to delve deeper into this shadowy ...

The 5G con that could make you sick from 2020-06-16T20:00

Since the UK went into coronavirus lockdown something strange has been happening –attacks on telephone masts and telecom workers are being reported all across the country. That’s because some pe...

The Perfect Storm from 2020-06-09T19:40

While Britain and France were brought to a standstill during the coronavirus lockdown, record numbers of migrants in Calais were on the move, boarding small boats to make perilous journeys to th...

Covid Crime from 2020-06-02T19:40

The covid-19 pandemic continues to have a profound effect on society - including the world of serious organised crime. The closure of international borders and global lockdown has made some...

Game Changer: How the UK played on during coronavirus from 2020-05-26T19:40

From the Olympics to Euro 2020, the world’s biggest sporting events have fallen like dominoes because of coronavirus. But as the global pandemic was declared and most European countries closed t...

Coronavirus: The care homes catastrophe from 2020-05-19T19:40

The awful impact of Covid-19 on the lives of care home residents and staff is now well understood. But many in the industry believe the authorities, both local and national, didn't recognise the...

Coronavirus: Stories from behind the mask from 2020-05-12T19:40

They’re the intensive care staff we see on the TV news. In their protective equipment, we can’t see their expressions – even their own colleagues find it hard to recognise them behind their mask...

Critical Condition: Allegations of failings at Great Ormond Street from 2020-03-17T20:50

Great Ormond Street Hospital in London has a global reputation for providing outstanding care to children with the most complex medical conditions who need expert help. The hospital, known as G...

Extreme measures: Can extremists be de-radicalised? from 2020-03-10T20:50

Usman Khan was released from prison in 2018 for plotting a terror attack. He'd undertaken two de-radicalisation programmes designed to turn him away from violent extremism. Yet despite efforts t...

Taking the Rap from 2020-03-03T20:50

When a video of one of the UK's biggest rap stars being attacked went viral, it marked the start of a series of events that left three young people dead. They died when tensions escalated betwe...

Something in the Air? from 2020-02-26T10:01

In January 2020, a British Airways flight from Athens to London issued a "Mayday" emergency call when the pilot flying the plane became incapacitated during a "fume event". The airline industry ...

Fair game? The secrets of football betting from 2020-02-18T20:50

In recent years, betting companies have invested millions in Britain’s professional football leagues through sponsorship deals and blanket advertising campaigns. The ever-increasing collaboratio...

Second Class Citizens: The Post Office IT Scandal from 2020-02-11T20:50

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-postmas...

Sewage Sludge from 2020-02-04T20:50

For decades sewage sludge from waste treatment works has been used as a fertiliser on agricultural land. But File on 4 hears serious concerns over whether it could pose a risk to human health an...

Facial Recognition from 2020-01-28T20:50

File on 4 has been tracking the roll-out of facial recognition tech across Britain’s streets, shopping centres and football grounds. The Metropolitan Police has announced it will use live facial...

After The Flood from 2020-01-21T20:50

Few who saw the pictures of the devastating floods which hit the Yorkshire village of Fishlake will forget those images of houses and fields sunk beneath the waters of the River Don. But who kno...

Separated Siblings from 2020-01-14T20:40

When Sophia was growing up, she had an imaginary friend. It was only later she learned that the little girl she played with in her mind was not imaginary at all, but a distant memory of an older...

Going back: The people reversing their gender transition from 2019-11-26T20:50

An increasing number of people are questioning their gender identity. Waiting lists for specialist clinics treating both children and adults with gender dysphoria are increasing, with some havin...

Drug Shortages from 2019-11-19T20:50

Medical professionals say shortages of commonly prescribed drugs are currently worse than ever before - impacting on patient care and potentially costing lives.

The government has banned ...

Anatomy of a fraud from 2019-11-12T20:30

Dodgy diamonds, missing millions - and the victims failed by justice.

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...

Crash Landing - The demise of Thomas Cook from 2019-10-22T19:50

To its thousands of employees left unemployed or 150,000 holiday makers stranded overseas, the collapse of Britain’s oldest travel firm came as a bitter, unexpected shock. File on 4 takes a for...

Lost on the line: The county lines gangs recruiting girls from 2019-10-15T19:40

New figures have revealed at least four thousand young people are currently caught up in county lines – meeting orders for heroin and cocaine placed on mobile phone ‘deal lines’. They’re transp...

Can sex offenders and violent criminals be rehabilitated in prison? from 2019-10-08T19:50

The decision to scrap the Sex Offender Treatment Programme raised major concerns about the rehabilitation of prisoners and the impact on victims. The scheme was replaced five years after initial...

Families versus the state: An unfair fight? from 2019-10-01T19:50

Julie Montacute-Carter (pictured left) was found drowned in a lake after suffering from depression for many years. But when it came to the inquest into her death it fell to her daughter Becky Mo...

The therapy business from 2019-09-24T19:50

When BBC reporter Jordan Dunbar sought help for his mental health he was told he'd face a long wait on the NHS. So like thousands of others he decided to go private.

In this edition of Fi...

Harassed students ‘re-victimised’ by universities from 2019-09-17T19:50

File on 4 exposes serious flaws in the way many universities mismanage reports of sexual assaults and harassment and how some students believe they’re re-victimised and bullied into keeping thei...

Sex Offenders Fleeing Abroad from 2019-09-10T19:50

Every year thousands of offenders are convicted of sexual offences and subjected to a monitoring regime designed to minimise their risk to the public. But critics claim the system for managing o...

Hidden Figures? The True Scale of Military Sexual Allegations from 2019-07-16T19:50

Ten years ago the alleged rape and subsequent suicide of Royal Military Police Corporal, Anne-Marie Ellement, highlighted problems with the way the British military handles allegations of sexua...

Bitter Brew from 2019-07-09T19:50

With the rise in ethical consumerism, File on 4 explores the hidden suffering of tea workers in Africa. Attacked because of their tribal identity, reporter Anna Cavell hears harrowing stories of...

Steeling for the Future from 2019-07-02T19:50

With British Steel going into liquidation last month File on 4 investigates the story behind the collapse of the iconic British brand. Reporting from the frontline in Scunthorpe, the programme ...

Beyond Grenfell: The Cladding Lottery from 2019-06-25T19:50

Last month, the government announced a £200 million pound fund to remove and replace Grenfell style cladding on 170 privately owned tower blocks. But there are many more high rise residential bu...

The Right Place for Reg? from 2019-06-18T20:30

On December 21st 2018, 94-year-old, World War 2 veteran, Reginald Herbert Thompson was taken to hospital after a fall at his home near Leicester. So began a journey which would see him transfe...

The Spy in Your Pocket from 2019-06-11T19:50

Anti-obesity campaigners in Mexico, human rights advocates in London, and friends of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi all claim they’ve been targeted by surveillance software normally use...

On Whose Authority? from 2019-06-04T19:50

The law says decisions about care for people who can not decide for themselves should be done collaboratively with the person’s best interests always at heart. So why do family members, feeling ...

A Load of Rubbish from 2019-05-28T19:50

Households in Britain are recycling more than ever, with millions of us dutifully sorting through our rubbish every week in an effort to help save the planet. But when the blue, green and brown ...

At Risk? Children in Residential Care from 2019-05-21T19:50

Children's homes offer sanctuary to young people whose childhoods have been disrupted by abuse, neglect or family breakdown.

More than 2,200 homes are spread across the country providing ...

Opioids: A Painful Prescription? from 2019-05-14T19:50

Opioids like morphine, tramadol and fentanyl are super-strength painkillers. They’re often prescribed by doctors for chronic pain, despite little evidence to say they’re helpful in it's treatmen...

The Crossing from 2019-03-19T20:50

In the autumn of 2016 the authorities in France closed down a large migrant camp in Calais known as The Jungle.

At its height more than 9,000 people from around the world lived in the cam...

The Crypto Factor – The Winners and Losers in Virtual Investment from 2019-03-12T20:50

You can't take money with you when you die.... or can you?

In this episode of File on 4 the stranger than fiction story that's the latest cryptocurrency scandal to leave tens of thousands ...

Winging It? from 2019-03-05T20:50

The UK's Military Flying Training System trains pilots on aircraft from fighter planes to navy helicopters. It takes years for trainees to get their wings. But delays in the system, mean many pi...

The Compensation Catch from 2019-02-26T20:40

If you’ve been the victim of sexual or violent crimes then you can apply for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

During 2017-2018, the government funded...

Swipe Right for Crime from 2019-02-20T10:46

Police across the globe have successfully infiltrated leading dark web criminal markets. The result is that the trade in illegal drugs, stolen credit cards and indecent images of children is shi...

No Place Like Home - The Inside Story of Supported Living from 2019-02-12T20:40

Transforming Care is the NHS policy which should be moving learning disabled people out of hospital units and into their own supported homes.

But File on 4 asks if the growth in the suppo...

Can we Fix it? The Inside Story of Match Fixing in Tennis from 2019-02-05T20:40

Last month, law enforcement officials in Spain said they had broken up a major match fixing ring in tennis. The Guardia Civil said 28 players competing at the lower levels of tennis were implica...

Inside the World of the Class A Student from 2019-01-30T13:59

Tom Wright investigates the normalisation of drug taking amongst Britain’s students. A recent graduate, he says Class A drugs like MDMA are bought and sold with impunity by students across the c...

Finding Freedom - The Fight Against Modern Slavery from 2019-01-22T20:50

Modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK are more prevalent than ever before.

Police estimate tens of thousands of victims are hidden in towns and cities across the country; many ki...

The Orphanage Business from 2019-01-16T13:27

Uganda is a country that has seen massive growth in the number of 'orphanages' providing homes to children, despite the numbers of orphans there decreasing. It's believed 80% of children now liv...

Youth Justice? from 2018-11-20T20:50

When secure training centres were launched nearly two decades ago they offered child offenders the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and get their lives back on track in a safe environmen...

Power Games from 2018-11-15T11:09

Northern Ireland has some of the highest rates in Europe of pollution linked to agricultural waste – the by-product of intensive pig, poultry and cattle farming. One solution is to turn the wast...

The Unorthodox Life of Miriam from 2018-11-06T20:50

When Miriam left the Hasidic Jewish community she had to say goodbye to her parents, siblings and children. The night she fled she knew she would be ostracised. But didn’t realise that six years...

My Homeless Son from 2018-10-30T20:40

What happens when you’re 17 years old and you suddenly find yourself homeless?

As a child, you would expect that social services and other authorities would find you a warm and safe place...

Criminal Waste from 2018-10-23T19:40

It’s been called “the new narcotics”, a crime that promises high-rewards with little fear of being detected, and it is attracting criminal gangs usually associated with drugs and violence. Listen

Fuelling the future? from 2018-10-16T20:30

Five years ago the UK’s biggest bioethanol plant opened in Hull as part of a £1 billion investment in renewable biofuel. Last month, the Vivergo site ceased production with the loss of more than...

Paying the Price - Private Hospitals from 2018-10-11T16:12

For many NHS patients, being referred for private treatment can sound quite appealing; you'll often be seen and treated quickly, with a more luxurious menu option to peruse in the comfort of you...

Transforming Care - Is it Working? from 2018-10-02T19:40

In the aftermath of the Winterbourne View scandal the government pledged to transfer people with learning disabilities and autism out of unsuitable hospital placements and into supported communi...

Debt Killed My Dad from 2018-09-25T19:30

In August, Jessica Hurst wrote to the media asking them to investigate how her dad’s debts of just under £12,000 became a bill of just under £73,000. Nigel Hurst killed himself a year ago after...

Paralympics – Gaming the System? from 2018-09-18T19:40

Last year, File on 4 investigated whether some athletes and coaches game the paralympic classification system in order to win medals. We heard allegations that some competitors had gone to aston...

Counting the Cost: Antidepressant Use in Children from 2018-07-24T19:40

More antidepressants than ever before are being prescribed to young people in Britain, despite fears that they can cause harm in some cases.

What are the driving factors behind the increas...

Prison, drugs and debts - who's paying the price? from 2018-07-17T19:40

File on 4 goes inside Altcourse Prison in Liverpool to meet the staff trying to stem the supply of drugs into the jail.

Perimeter security has been tightened, searches have been stepped u...

Construction in Crisis? from 2018-07-16T10:07

In January, Britain's second biggest construction firm, Carillion, spectacularly collapsed under a £1.5 billion debt pile. Thousands of jobs were lost, pensions were put at risk, and around 30 t...

The Private World of the NHS from 2018-07-03T19:40

As the NHS reaches its 70th anniversary, Adrian Goldberg investigates why the very mention of the word "private" - or, even more, privatisation - in UK health care provokes fierce opposition. Listen

Falling Short - Fake News and Financial Markets from 2018-06-26T19:40

If fake news is poisoning public debate, then what is it doing to the financial markets?

Short-sellers - investors who bet on a company's shares falling, not rising- have a mixed reputatio...

Back Home from ISIS from 2018-06-19T19:40

For years, the so-called Islamic State has managed to attract thousands of wannabe jihadis and jihadi brides to join their caliphate. The extremist propaganda, online videos and recruiters have ...

Failed by Forensics? from 2018-06-12T19:40

File on 4 investigates mounting concern about forensic science in England and Wales - hearing the cases of two men who almost went to prison for rape because the police failed to properly invest...

Citizenship for Sale from 2018-06-05T19:40

Selling passports. It may sound illicit but 'citizenship-by-investment' is a global industry worth billions - and it's completely legal.

The idea is simple - invest huge sums of money and ...

Criminal Records? from 2018-05-29T19:40

Knife crime in England and Wales rose by a fifth last year, with stabbings in London at their highest level for a decade. So far this year, there have been more than 30 fatal stabbings in the ca...

The Lost Children of Marianvale from 2018-05-23T10:13

During much of the 20th century unmarried women who became pregnant faced being condemned, stigmatised and shunned by their communities.

Across the Republic and Northern Ireland thousands...

The Invisible Man of Britain’s Far Right from 2018-05-04T13:37

Simon Cox investigates the anti-immigration, anti-Muslim organisation Knights Templar International - not to be confused with the medieval Knights Templar organisation. In a recent interview its...

Squalid Prisons - Who's to Blame? from 2018-03-13T20:40

The collapse of the construction giant Carillion has focused attention on the contracts it had with the Government, one of which involved cleaning, landscaping and maintenance at 50 prisons in the ...

The Missing Bitcoin Billions from 2018-03-07T12:59

As controversy rages around whether the Bitcoin bubble is about to burst, File on 4 investigates the mystery of the missing Bitcoin billions. In 2014 one of the world's biggest Bitcoin exchanges -...

Disclosing the Truth from 2018-02-27T20:40

The Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have been accused of failing to disclose important information in several recent high profile sexual assault cases. But Allan Urry asks if the current ...

On the Critical List? Britain's Ageing Hospitals from 2018-02-20T20:40

Can the NHS afford to run and replace its ageing hospitals? Many hospitals are crumbling and have huge backlogs of required maintenance work. It affects patients - sometimes life-saving operation...

Dying on the Streets from 2018-02-13T20:40

The homeless being denied end of life care. 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....

Potters Bar, Ukraine's stolen billions and the Eurovision connection from 2018-02-06T20:01

UK companies are being used to launder dirty money as new transparency rules are flouted. One, registered in a Hertfordshire commuter town, helped the circle of Ukraine's disgraced ex-president pro...

A Deadly Prescription from 2018-01-30T20:41

There were a record 3,744 drug related deaths in England and Wales last year. While many were linked to street drugs such as heroin, a growing number also involve prescription medicines such as ben...

Sheltered from Harm from 2018-01-23T20:01

There are more than half a million people living in sheltered housing, accommodation that offers additional support to the elderly, disabled or vulnerable. But currently, in England, these schemes...

Degrees of Deception from 2018-01-19T16:59

File on 4 exposes a multi-million pound global trade in fake diplomas. A complex network of online universities sells degrees, doctorates and professional qualifications - for a price. Some of the...

What's New about the New Far Right? from 2017-11-14T20:41

The head of counter terrorism Assistant Commander Mark Rowley has warned the extreme right wing pose a growing threat in the UK. He told the Home Affairs select committee last month that right wing...

Paradise Papers: Profits from the Poor from 2017-11-07T20:40

What does the leak of files from offshore law firm Appleby reveal about how money is transferred out of the developing world and into the pockets of the rich? Using leaked documents obtained by Ge...

The Nuclear Option - Powering the Future and Cleaning Up the Past from 2017-10-31T20:40

There a risk we won't get new nuclear hooked up to the grid in time to back up renewable energy like wind power. There's an aim to generate 16GWe of new nuclear power by 2030.But experts doubt th...

Crossing the Line - Britain's Teenage Drug Mules from 2017-10-24T19:40

Drug dealers from big cities are exploiting thousands of teenagers to traffic Class A drugs to smaller rural towns in what's known as County Lines. Children - some as young as 9 -are being used a...

Police Protection? The Murder of Kevin Nunes from 2017-10-17T19:40

Fifteen years ago, promising young footballer Kevin Nunes was shot dead on a country lane in Staffordshire. Five men were convicted of his killing, and jailed for life. But just four years later, t...

Elderly Patients in Hospital - Who Cares? from 2017-10-10T19:10

How well do NHS hospitals look after their elderly patients? Allan Urry investigates concerns about a lack of basic care. Is it proving fatal for some? Why are bedsores, repeated falls, malnutritio...

Extremism: Hidden in Plain Sight from 2017-10-03T19:40

Manveen Rana uncovers hate speech, sectarianism and even support for Jihad in some of Britain's Urdu language newspapers, radio stations and TV channels. While we are often told the internet and s...

Adoption: Families in Crisis from 2017-09-26T19:59

Adoption can transform lives. Today, most children available for adoption have had a difficult start. Removed from birth parents and taken into care, many have experienced abuse and neglect which c...

Paralympic Sport - Fair Play? from 2017-09-20T13:47

The ethos of the paralympic movement is fair and equal competition. At its heart is the classification system designed to ensure people of equal impairment compete against each other. The Internat...

The Secrets of Smyllum Park from 2017-09-12T19:40

Over many generations the Catholic church provided shelter and care for vulnerable children whose families had been broken by death or poverty. But many of those who grew up in these orphanages cla...

About a Boy - The Hidden Victims of Grooming from 2017-07-18T19:40

What happens when your teenage son is targeted by abusers? 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 groom...

Car Emissions - Coming Clean? from 2017-07-11T19:40

Volkswagen Group faced a 15 billion fine after the US environmental protection agency found it had fitted cars with software designed to cheat official pollution tests. Their engines seemed clean...

Mental Health Parity: Progress or Pipe Dream? from 2017-07-05T09:09

In 2015, reporter Adrian Goldberg investigated the state of England's mental health provision and measured the promise of equal treatment for psychiatric patients against the reality on the wards o...

Preventing TB from 2017-06-30T13:45

Around 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis each year. The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine was introduced nearly a hundred years ago, but is only partially effective against the bacteriu...

Children with ME from 2017-06-27T19:40

File on 4 investigates claims that parents whose children suffer from a crippling illness that leaves them sick and permanently exhausted have been falsely accused of child abuse. Parents of chil...

What Lies Beneath: The Legacy of Landfill from 2017-06-20T19:40

The toxic legacy of Britain's industrial heritage lies festering beneath our feet in 20 thousand former landfill sites. But now Government has ended the system of grants to local authorities to hel...

Online Grooming from 2017-06-13T19:40

File on 4 reveals the true scale of child sexual grooming and abuse online and asks whether social media companies are doing enough to prevent paedophiles from targeting children. The investigation...

Gain Without the Pain: Legal Drugs in Sport from 2017-05-30T20:00

Painkillers in sport: a form of legal doping or an excessive reliance on medication that puts the long-term health of athletes in jeopardy? With evidence of widespread use of over the counter anti...

Killings in Care Homes from 2017-05-23T19:38

Headlines involving abuse in care homes normally centre on allegations against staff, but is aggression among residents being overlooked? With homes increasingly taking care of those with more co...

Policing the Police from 2017-05-16T19:40

From the Hillsborough Inquest to Plebgate, from the revelations about undercover officers to the shooting of Mark Duggan, the last few years have been as controversial as any in the history of Brit...

Councils in Crisis from 2017-03-21T20:40

There's a quiet revolution going on in our Town Halls. With funding slashed, Local Government is tasked with finding new ways to raise money and deliver services, or face failing to comply with its...

The Prison Contraband Crisis from 2017-03-14T20:40

Prisons are a crucible for corruption, a former governor claims. Staff are working in the toughest conditions the system has seen in decades. Thousands of experienced staff have left and some areas...

Rogue Hauliers from 2017-03-07T20:40

In January a haulage boss and his mechanic were jailed for a tipper truck crash which killed four people. The brakes on six of the truck's eight wheels weren't working properly. The expert examiner...

Neglect: The Story of UK Homecare from 2017-02-28T20:40

With an ageing population the need for carers to help elderly people stay healthy and safe in their own homes has never been greater. From making a meal, to help getting out of bed or having a sh...

Outclassed: The Kids Excluded from School from 2017-02-22T12:38

Over 300,000 children were excluded from school in England and Wales last year - almost 6 thousand of them permanently. Many of these children will end up in "alternative provision", sometimes kn...

Speaking Up - Whistleblowing in the NHS from 2017-02-07T20:10

Two years ago the first independent report into the treatment of whistle-blowers in the NHS was published. The Freedom to Speak Up report was commissioned by the government amid concerns not enou...

The Turnaround Game from 2017-01-31T20:38

Five people have been found guilty for their roles in bank corruption and fraud costing hundreds of millions of pounds. A sixth, it can now be revealed, had already pleaded guilty. Lynden Scourfi...

The Cost of a Kidney from 2017-01-24T20:40

In the UK three people die every day waiting for an organ transplant. People from ethnic minorities face a particular shortage of donors - the NHS aims to achieve 80% consent rates by 2020, but at ...

Breaking Into Britain from 2017-01-19T10:28

Revealed: the secret UK immigration dodges on offer on the high street. Theresa May has promised to stick to a promise to bring down net migration to the tens of thousands, and post the vote for B...

A Greek Tragedy from 2017-01-10T20:40

File on 4 sets off on a new series to find the forgotten children of Europe's refugee crisis. As winter sets in, Phil Kemp heads to Greece in search of the teenagers who have arrived alone from Sy...

London Calling from 2016-11-08T21:00

With the Government claiming to lead the way in plans to crack down on global corruption, how come so little is being done in Britain to tackle the vast sums of money allegedly laundered through th...

The Hidden Homeless from 2016-11-01T20:50

The number of people who are homeless is on the rise. In London it shot up almost 80 per cent in 4 years. Latest government figures show councils in England took on 15,000 new homeless households b...

Behind Closed Doors from 2016-10-26T09:45

This July, days after walking into the top job at number 10, Theresa May renewed her commitment to crack down on modern day slavery, describing it as "the great human rights issue of our time". Th...

Changing Tides: Can the UK keep its renewable energy promises? from 2016-10-18T19:40

The world's first tidal lagoon power station in Wales, which was in the Conservative manifesto, has stalled, as the government seems to be baulking at the price. The Swansea Bay lagoon, and five mo...

How Safe Is Your Pension? from 2016-10-11T20:00

Following the BHS scandal, Allan Urry investigates other cases in which employees claim they've lost out because companies have ditched their full pension fund commitments. It's the job of the Pe...

Transforming Rehabilitation: At What Cost? from 2016-10-04T19:50

The split and part privatisation of the UK probation system in June 2014 saw huge changes to the service, with high risk offenders managed by the new National Probation Service and low to medium ri...

Little Brother's Big Secrets from 2016-09-27T19:40

Valued at £80 billion, the UK's junior stock market is hyped as the most successful growth market in the world. Government incentives - including stamp duty and inheritance tax breaks - mean that...

The Last Taboo from 2016-09-20T20:00

For a long time, society didn't want to believe child sex abuse was happening - but now are sex crimes against elderly victims being dismissed in the same way? File on 4 reveals new figures about ...

Homes Not Hospitals from 2016-09-13T20:00

Five years after shocking revelations about the abuse of patients at Winterbourne View, File on 4 asks what progress has been made on the promise to get people with learning disabilities and autism...

'High Way' to Hell from 2016-09-06T20:05

Earlier this year, the government introduced legislation banning the production, distribution, sale and supply of legal highs. Designed to stop what has been described as a tsunami of chemicals flo...

What Happened at Aston Hall Hospital? from 2016-07-19T19:50

Police are investigating allegations of abuse made by people who, as children, were sent for psychiatric treatment at Aston Hall Hospital in Derbyshire. Some patients say they were only sent there ...

Trade and Torture from 2016-07-12T19:50

Is the UK putting trade above concerns about human rights in the United Arab Emirates? Britons who claim they were tortured in the Gulf state's prison cells say the UK government failed to fight f...

The Price of PFI from 2016-07-05T19:50

Successive government procurement strategies have repeatedly promised high quality public buildings made possible through Private Finance Initiatives, but is that what's been delivered? What went w...

Whose Right to Buy Is It Anyway? from 2016-06-21T19:50

Around 2.5m council tenants across the UK have bought their homes since Right to Buy started in 1980. The scheme is now being extended to more than a million housing association tenants in England ...

Child Protection from 2016-06-14T19:50

The recent deaths of children at the hands of family members have revealed some children's social work departments are still failing children some nine years after the death of Baby P. In some regi...

The Cancer Drugs Fund from 2016-06-07T19:50

Over the past five years thousands of patients in England have been given access to new but expensive cancer drugs through a special Cancer Drugs Fund. But critics argue that hundreds of millions h...

Fair Game from 2016-05-31T19:50

English football clubs enjoy a high profile around the world, leading to many companies vying to do business with them. But have some football clubs entered into financial deals with companies with...

An Unsafe Conviction? from 2016-05-24T19:50

For the past 22 years Thomas Bourke has been in prison for a double murder he says he didn't commit. The killings made national headlines in 1993 when two MOT inspectors, Alan Singleton and Simon B...

Police Firepower from 2016-05-17T19:50

Police forces in England and Wales are to get an additional fifteen hundred firearms officers to help protect the public from terrorism and organised crime. Most of the new officers will be traine...

Dirty Oil? from 2016-05-10T19:50

The Serious Fraud Office has begun an investigation into allegations of corruption in the award of multi-million pound oil contracts in the Middle East. A Monaco based company, Unaoil, denies that ...

The Panama Papers from 2016-04-05T19:30

This week's massive leak of confidential documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, has given unprecedented access to the way the rich and powerful have used tax havens to hide their ...

Tennis: The Italian Files from 2016-03-15T20:50

Two months ago a File on 4 investigation into match-fixing in tennis made headlines around the world. The programme revealed how tennis authorities had received repeated alerts in the past decade a...

UK Asylum: A Systems Failure? from 2016-03-08T20:50

As more and more migrants seek asylum in the UK, is the system for processing their applications reaching breaking point? Allan Urry investigates the impact of a drastic reduction in the numbers of...

Special Guardianships: Keeping Things in the Family? from 2016-03-01T20:50

Special guardianship orders are a way of giving legal status to those - usually grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters - who come forward to care for children when their parents can't...

Dementia: What Do We Know? from 2016-02-23T20:50

It's estimated there are around 620,000 people in England with dementia. Prime minister David Cameron says fighting the disease is a personal priority and doctors in England have been encouraged to...

Sunni Shia Splits? from 2016-02-16T20:50

Are international conflicts creating tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the UK? Shabnam Mahmood reports from both Sunni and Shia communities and reveals how divisive messages from the Mid...

After the Floods - A Tale of Two Cities from 2016-02-09T20:50

The Dutch city of Nijmegen has much in common with the English city of York. Similar in size, both are much visited by tourists because of their histories and architecture. But both also have river...

Vaccine Damages from 2016-02-03T11:52

Vaccination has long been one of the greatest weapons in the battle against a range of potentially fatal diseases. Millions of lives have been saved worldwide, and Britain has played a major role i...

NHS Contracts: Tender Issues from 2016-01-26T20:50

File on 4 uncovers the story behind the collapse of one of the biggest health contracts ever put out to tender. Last April an NHS consortium of Cambridge University Hospitals and Cambridgeshire and...

Tennis: Game, Set and Fix? from 2016-01-22T13:32

File on 4 reveals secret evidence of match fixing in tennis and investigates claims that sport's governing bodies have failed to act on repeated warnings about suspect players. The programme has se...

Bent Cops? from 2016-01-12T20:50

In the first of a new series, Allan Urry investigates claims by former officers from one of Britain's biggest police forces that they've been the victims of crimes committed by their own colleagues...

An Inside Job from 2015-11-10T20:50

An inside job: the Britons smuggling illegal immigrants into the UK. 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 s...

Locum Doctors: Bad for Your Health? from 2015-11-03T20:50

How safe are we in the hands of locum staff at NHS hospitals? The Government's crackdown on big fees charged by agencies that hire them out has been making headlines, but what's being done to ensur...

The Billion-Dollar Aid Question from 2015-10-27T20:50

As the crisis in Syria deepens and refugees flock westwards, the UK government insists it is helping with a £1.1bn aid package to neighbouring countries - but is it being spent wisely? Simon Cox t...

Can Rotherham Recover? from 2015-10-20T19:50

Like other steel communities, Rotherham faces the loss of hundreds of jobs following the recent announcement of redundancies at the local plant. It's the latest blow to a town now synonymous with w...

Colleges in Crisis from 2015-10-13T19:50

David Cameron has promised three million new apprenticeships by 2020. But Further Education colleges must deliver them against a background of year-on-year cuts - with the axe likely to fall again ...

Dirty Money UK from 2015-10-06T19:50

What does the theft of a billion dollars from Europe's poorest country have to do with a run-down housing estate in Edinburgh? Moldova was robbed of 12% of its GDP by the bafflingly complex financi...

Missing Medicines from 2015-09-29T19:50

Why is the NHS struggling to get hold of some life-saving medicines for its patients? Allan Urry reveals serious concern over the availability of some drugs used in the treatment of cancer and for ...

Working in the Shadows from 2015-09-22T19:50

With the Government cracking down on migrants working illegally, Simon Cox investigates Britain's shadow economy. He meets illegal workers to ask whether the get-tough message is putting them off. ...

CPS: Prosecutors on Trial from 2015-09-15T19:50

Controversial charging decisions in the cases of Lord Janner, Operation Elveden and a doctor accused of female genital mutilation have brought a hostile reaction in the media to the Director of Pub...

The Cost of a Cuppa from 2015-09-09T09:40

Tea is still the UK's favourite drink - but what's the human cost of a cuppa? In the first of a new series of File on 4, Jane Deith reports from Assam on the plight of workers on tea plantations w...

Police Complaints: A Fair Cop? from 2015-07-14T19:50

Complaints against the police are running at a record high. The vast majority, nine out of ten, are rejected from the start. But when complainants appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commis...

Off Track: Network Rail from 2015-07-08T09:42

Works behind schedule; costs going up; an inquiry into poor performance announced by the industry regulator. It's a depressingly familiar story on our railways. From brand new station escalators at...

The Aid Business from 2015-06-30T19:50

The UK's £12 billion pound foreign aid budget is one of the few areas of Government spending protected from cuts. The commitment to spend 0.7% of Britain's gross national income on aid means at lea...

Ticket to Hide from 2015-06-23T19:50

Sixty thousand people have crossed the Mediterranean and made it to Europe so far this year. Frontex, the EU border agency, warns that between 500,000 and 1 million people - Eritreans, Syrians, Af...

Treating Stroke: The Doctors' Dilemma from 2015-06-16T19:50

Later this month the medicines regulator, the MHRA, is due to complete its review into the clot-busting drug Alteplase, the frontline treatment used in many cases of stroke. A number of experts in ...

Housing Blight? from 2015-06-09T19:50

With the urgent need for more housing, Britain's planning laws are under pressure like never before. Greenbelt land and even sites designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, are being earma...

Abandoned to their Fate from 2015-06-02T19:50

Next month the National Audit Office is due to report on the outcomes for young people leaving care. There are claims that, under financial pressure, local authorities are pushing too many teenager...

Minding the Gap: Mental Healthcare from 2015-05-19T19:50

Mental health services are facing a period of unprecedented change. The Department of Health has committed itself to reducing the disparity between spending on physical and mental illness, and a ne...

Who Killed Emma? from 2015-05-12T19:50

Emma Caldwell was a young woman from a good home who developed an addiction to heroin after the death of her sister and then descended into street prostitution. When her body was found dumped in a ...

Targeting the Vulnerable from 2015-05-05T19:20

It's taken a long time to break through the culture of denial, but child sexual exploitation cases from Rochdale to Oxford have shown that grooming of children can happen in any community. There s...

Gun Control: Europe's Flooded Market from 2015-03-24T20:50

With Britain on heightened alert following Islamist shootings in Paris and Copenhagen, how well prepared are we to deal with a similar attack? Allan Urry discovers how extremists in neighbouring E...

Sick of School from 2015-03-17T20:50

Is the pressure on teachers reaching crisis point? Record numbers are leaving the classroom and thousands of teachers recently responded to the Government's workload survey to say they were struggl...

A Pensions Patchwork from 2015-03-10T20:50

In Canada, everything is big - including powerful pension funds such as the Ontario Teachers fund which owns half of Birmingham airport and other large projects around the world. It's all a far cry...

No Place of Safety from 2015-03-03T20:50

Secure children's homes look after some of the country's most vulnerable youngsters. Largely run by local authorities, they provide safe accommodation for children placed on custody grounds or for ...

Insurance and Child Abuse from 2015-02-24T20:50

With a growing number of compensation claims arising from cases of historic sexual abuse and more recent high profile cases of sexual grooming, Tim Whewell investigates the key role which insurance...

Islamic State: Looting for Terror from 2015-02-17T20:50

Satellite images reveal the extent to which sites of important historical interest have been looted in Syria. Some of these are in areas controlled by Islamic State where looters are believed to pa...

Asylum Seekers from 2015-02-10T20:50

Around 28 thousand people are claiming asylum in the UK. They're accommodated in some of the nation's most deprived areas while their cases are considered. Now, with numbers on the rise, some commu...

Where Have All the Nurses Gone? from 2015-01-27T20:50

Where have all the nurses gone? File on 4 looks at the reasons for the nursing shortage in the NHS in England and the cost of plugging the gaps at a time of peak demand. A decision four years ago t...

Benefit Sanctions from 2015-01-20T20:50

Benefit sanctions are supposed to be part of a system helping people back to work. But critics say they penalise the vulnerable and are among the reasons for the growing use of food banks. So how f...

Prison Violence from 2015-01-13T20:50

With serious assaults at a record high, File on 4 investigates the growing tension within Britain's prisons. In the first of a new series, BBC Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw meets recently ...

Continuing Healthcare: The Secret Fund from 2014-11-18T20:50

Is demand for long term nursing about to tip NHS finances over the edge? Under the system of "Continuing Healthcare" people with complex medical needs can claim the costs of nursing and medical he...

Dirty Secrets from 2014-11-11T20:50

The UK generates nearly 300 million tonnes of waste every year. That's rich pickings for criminals who illegally dump what we don't want, damaging the environment and threatening our health. The bl...

Private Equity: Winners and Losers from 2014-11-04T20:50

Recent high-profile collapses of high street names such as Comet, Phones4U and other companies have left thousands of people out of work and have cost the taxpayer millions in statutory redundancy ...

Ebola from 2014-10-21T19:02

Ebola is now regarded as an international threat to peace and security, according to the World Health Organisation. Yet, when the WHO was first warned of an unprecedented outbreak, the organisation...

NHS: Testing the Market from 2014-10-14T19:50

In the biggest outsourcing to date, the NHS in England has announced it is tendering a huge £700 million contract for providing NHS cancer care in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, along with anoth...

Fraud: The Thin Blue Line from 2014-10-07T19:52

The nature of crime is changing, with much of it now happening online, sparking growing concern that official figures fail to account for potentially millions of fraud offences. Experts say frauds ...

Border Security: All at Sea? from 2014-09-30T19:50

How well are Britain's borders patrolled and defended at a time when the authorities are battling to stem the flow of illegal immigrants coming across the Channel and tightening national security b...

Rigged Markets? from 2014-09-23T19:50

Is a new scandal about to engulf the UK's banking industry? Was LIBOR just the tip of the iceberg? Regulators around the world are looking at the way important financial benchmarks have been calcul...

Abused but Not Heard from 2014-09-16T19:50

Knowl View special school for boys has become infamous as the haunt of Cyril Smith. Prosecutors now say 'Mr Rochdale' should have been charged with abuse of boys while he was alive. But he was not ...

Childhood Cancer from 2014-07-15T19:50

Every year more than 1,500 UK children are diagnosed with cancer. 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 an...

Late Payments from 2014-07-08T19:50

Last month, in the Queen's Speech, the Government announced a series of measures to support small businesses -- including proposals to deal with the problem of late payment of bills by larger compa...

A Deadly Dilemma from 2014-07-01T19:50

In many parts of the world, charities are trying to deliver much-needed aid to desperate people living in areas controlled by militant groups. What do they do when counter-terrorism laws ban them f...

Yarl's Wood from 2014-06-24T19:50

On the day a parliamentary committee is due to take evidence about the Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre, Simon Cox investigates claims of sexual abuse and poor health care for the women held ...

Inside the Abattoir from 2014-06-17T19:50

The recent furore over halal meat has focused attention on how our meat is killed and processed. But beyond the ethical and religious debate over halal, are there bigger concerns about how abattoi...

Northern Ireland: A Bitter Legacy from 2014-06-10T19:50

More than 15 years ago, the Good Friday Agreement came into force - bringing an end to three decades of violence in Northern Ireland. At the heart of the peace process is a commitment to bring tru...

Short-selling Students? from 2014-06-03T19:50

With fees costing as much as £9,000 a year, universities must operate in an increasingly cut-throat market place. At a time when budgets in some institutions are being stretched, students are deman...

Practices Under Pressure from 2014-05-27T19:50

GPs are under pressure to do more. The Government wants surgeries to open seven days a week and the Labour Party say they'll ensure people get appointments within 48 hours. But, at the same time, t...

Miscarriage of Justice from 2014-05-20T19:50

How effective is the system for investigating miscarriages of justice in England and Wales? Critics say the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body charged with examining potential wrongful con...

Street Slaves from 2014-05-13T19:50

The Government has introduced a draft Modern Slavery Bill which is aimed at making it simpler to prosecute human traffickers and which will bring in life sentences for such offences. But who are t...

Election Fraud from 2014-03-11T20:50

With local authority elections due in May, Allan Urry investigates claims of organised vote rigging. Earlier this year, the Electoral Commission identified 16 areas in England with wards that are ...

The Accountant Kings from 2014-03-04T20:50

The UK is said to have more accountants than almost any other nation on earth. Thanks to reforms in the way the public sector is run, the "Big Four" accountancy firms and the accountancy profession...

Deadly Hospitals? from 2014-02-25T20:50

Each year the number of deaths in every hospital in England is recorded and compared with national averages for the range of patients and conditions treated. The results are published by a company ...

Repeat Offenders from 2014-02-18T20:50

Probation staff are currently being told where they will be working under a radical reform of the service. The government is transferring the management of low and medium risk offenders to private ...

Flooding: Best Laid Plans? from 2014-02-11T20:50

Flights grounded. Trains cancelled. Roads flooded. It's becoming a familiar story every winter as Britain's transport systems are battered by the weather. While rainfall this winter has been unusua...

Cut-Price Care from 2014-02-04T20:50

Ministers have promised a new focus on home care for the elderly and disabled amid concern that 15-minute calls and a low-paid, underskilled workforce are leaving vulnerable people at risk. From t...

Food Fraud from 2014-01-28T20:50

A year after the horsemeat scandal there are calls for a new police force to fight food fraud amid concerns that organised crime is increasingly targeting the sector because there are huge profits ...

Default by Design? from 2014-01-21T20:50

Last month a report by a government advisor, Lawrence Tomlinson, accused The Royal Bank of Scotland of forcing some viable businesses into insolvency. The Bank has denied Tomlinson's claims and has...

Liquid Assets from 2014-01-14T20:50

As water companies submit their spending plans for the next five years, Lesley Curwen investigates what happens to the money once the household water bill has been paid. Half of England's water co...

Chemical Weapons from 2014-01-07T20:50

As a complex operation continues to destroy the remainder of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, how much will we ever know about the supply routes through which the Assad regime acquired the basic...

A Healthy Market? from 2013-11-12T20:50

The biggest ever slice of the NHS is up for grabs in Cambridgeshire. Ten bidders, including NHS hospital trusts and private companies Serco, Virgin Care and Circle, are competing for a five year co...

Up to the Job? from 2013-11-05T20:50

The Work Programme is the Government's flagship scheme designed to help the long term unemployed off benefits and into lasting jobs. But how well is it working - both for those at whom it is aimed ...

Deadly Drugs from 2013-10-29T20:50

What's behind the recent death of a clubgoer in Manchester who's believed to have taken a bad dose of the drug ecstasy? He's one of 12 in the area in the last year who've died after using illegal s...

What Price Social Housing? from 2013-10-22T19:50

Ministers have set a target of 170,000 new affordable homes in the next two years. But the Housing Associations which must take a major part in delivering them are under increasing financial strain...

The Syrian Connection from 2013-10-15T19:50

It is estimated more than 100 British people could be fighting with opposition forces in Syria. At least one is known to have been killed in action earlier this year. File on 4 investigates who the...

HS2: Winners and Losers from 2013-10-08T19:50

The government is stepping up its support for HS2, the high-speed rail project due to link London and Birmingham by 2026 with extensions to Manchester and Leeds by 2032. The cost is officially esti...

Electricity Prices: A Shock to the System? from 2013-10-01T19:50

The Government wants more wind power and nuclear energy to supply our electricity, but how well is it delivering that plan? In Scotland where conditions for renewable sources are good, there's been...

Secrecy and Surveillance from 2013-09-24T19:50

Recent revelations about secret mass surveillance programmes have raised fears about potential abuses of individual privacy in favour of national security. With requests to intercept personal commu...

What Price Cheap Clothes? from 2013-09-17T19:50

Will the Rana Plaza factory tragedy mean Bangladeshi garment workers no longer have to work in death traps? It's five months on from the collapse of the 8 storey building in Dhaka, in which more th...

A Place of Safety? from 2013-07-30T19:50

Psychiatric hospitals have a duty to keep their patients safe, which means taking extra care with patients suffering acute depression who may be at risk of self-harm. So campaigners argue that whe...

Coal Comfort? from 2013-07-23T19:50

The amount of coal burned in Britain's power stations rocketed in 2012 with ministers relying on the fuel to help keep the lights on in the next few years. But coal mining in Britain is now in deep...

Tobacco: The Lobbyists from 2013-07-16T19:50

Last week, the Government dropped plans to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes in England. It said it wanted to wait and see what happens in Australia where the measure was introduced earlier ...

Faith, Hope and... Tax Avoidance from 2013-07-09T19:50

While the G8 summit of world leaders has agreed a global deal to ensure big business pays its dues, concerns about tax avoidance go wider. A group of MPs has just examined the case of the Cup Trus...

NHS: Pricing Patients from 2013-07-02T19:50

NHS hospitals in England are back in the spotlight with a crisis in A&E and a growing number of cancelled operations. But does the real problem lie in the way the Government is currently funding th...

Petrol Prices from 2013-06-25T19:50

The way in which oil is traded on commodities markets is coming under close scrutiny. Last month, officers of the European Commission raided the London offices of BP and Shell along with Norway's S...

Council Asset Sales from 2013-06-18T19:50

Local authorities across the UK are facing tough decisions as they try to balance their books in the face of unprecedented funding cuts - with many opting to sell land and buildings to reduce spend...

Grooming: A Life Sentence? from 2013-06-11T19:50

In the latest high profile grooming trial, 7 men from Oxford will be sentenced later this month for sexually exploiting and raping 6 schoolgirls. Police said the girls - some as young as 12 - were ...

Elderly Care: Neglected Questions from 2013-06-04T19:50

Operation Jasmine was the UK's biggest ever care home abuse investigation. But in January this year proceedings against two key figures in the case collapsed, leaving dozens of families asking if ...

Iran's Nuclear Standoff from 2013-05-28T19:50

There's mounting concern over the Iranian nuclear programme. Is Tehran is simply playing cat and mouse with the international community and buying time until it is ready to develop a nuclear weapon...

Superbugs from 2013-05-21T19:50

In the first of a new series, File on 4 asks whether recent stark warnings about the threat posed by growing resistance to antibiotics have come too late. The Chief Medical Officer of England, Prof...

Rochdale Abuse: Failed Victims? from 2013-03-26T20:50

The high profile child sex abuse case in Rochdale last summer - in which nine men were jailed for more than 70 years for grooming underage girls - has been defined as a watershed moment in how the ...

Dangerous Hospitals? from 2013-03-19T20:50

In the wake of the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal, investigations are going on at 14 other hospitals in England identified as having above average death rates among their patients. But why has ...

Mali: Europe's Terror Threat from 2013-03-12T20:50

The French authorities acknowledge their intervention in Mali has made them terrorist target number one. In recent weeks, the country has raised its threat level - with high visibility police patro...

Britain in Flood from 2013-02-26T20:50

Has the Government done enough to protect communities from flooding? Were cuts in river maintenance work responsible for farmers land in Somerset being underwater for months? Why are planners allow...

Britain's Plutonium Mountain from 2013-02-19T20:50

The Government is currently deciding what to do with the UK's civilian plutonium stockpile - the largest in the world. Some are concerned that it could become the target of terrorists intent on mak...

The Bill for Brussels from 2013-02-12T20:50

21 years after the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, Britain is trying to cut the cost of the European Union. As the institution comes of age, Gerry Northam asks whether the EU's spending on itsel...

Russian Riches from 2013-02-05T20:50

Surrey police are probing the mystery death of a Russian exile who was helping to locate millions of dollars missing from the Russian treasury. City experts claim London is one of the routes for th...

Taxing Questions from 2013-01-29T20:50

After a series of controversies over the tax bills of multinationals such as Google and Starbucks, ministers have been talking tough about avoidance. But as new tax rules come into operation, Fran ...

Hospitals - Open All Hours? from 2013-01-22T20:50

The government and senior medical figures want consultants to be more hands on in hospitals at weekends and at night. It follows evidence patients are less likely to receive prompt treatment and mo...

Illicit Arms Trade from 2013-01-15T20:50

The recent conviction of an arms broker from Yorkshire has raised serious concerns about the murky world of the international weapons trade. Gary Hyde was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for ...

Highways Agency from 2012-11-20T20:50

Fed up with road works? Stuck in a queue of traffic? The Government is promising big improvements for drivers who use motorways and major roads. It's looking for ways to increase private sector inv...

The Zombie Effect from 2012-11-13T20:50

It's estimated there are up to 150,000 so called zombie companies in the UK. They are often defined as businesses which are only able to pay off the interest on their debts and have little prospect...

Second-Class Patients? from 2012-11-06T20:50

Britain has 1.5 million people with learning difficulties, and the number is growing. Campaigners say the health service is struggling to cope: the number of specialist nurses is falling, and thoug...

Too Many Chiefs? from 2012-10-30T20:50

In April next year, the SNP government in Scotland will merge 8 existing constabularies to create a single national police force. This is intended to bring efficiency savings by cutting out duplica...

Public, Private and Profitable from 2012-10-23T19:50

The midnight collapse of the Government's plans for the West Coast main railway line once again raises questions about the outsourcing of public services to private providers. Public bodies of all ...

Recoiling the Arab Spring from 2012-10-16T19:50

The ultra-conservative Salafist movement, which is said to be the fastest growing branch of Islam, has been blamed for being behind many of the recent violent protests over an anti-Muslim film whic...

Alcohol Fraud from 2012-10-09T19:50

A criminal gang was recently jailed for one of the biggest ever alcohol smuggling rackets in the UK. It's become big business for organised crime according to HMRC, with tax losses in unpaid duty a...

Undercover Cops from 2012-10-02T19:50

How far should undercover police officers go to gather intelligence? Jane Deith talks exclusively to women suing the Metropolitan police claiming they were tricked into long standing relationships...

Green on Blue from 2012-09-25T19:50

In the first of a new series, Gerry Northam investigates the rising number of so called "green on blue" attacks in which Afghan soldiers and policemen have turned their guns on British and other in...

07/08/2012 from 2012-08-07T19:50

World health chiefs have branded diesel exhaust emissions a major cause of cancer. Despite the efforts of car-makers to filter out the most noxious substances, these fumes still play a big part in ...

Tuberculosis from 2012-07-31T19:50

Figures released this month reveal almost 9000 new tuberculosis cases in the United Kingdom last year, the highest level since the 1970s. The disease has risen by more than a third in the past deca...

Violent Veterans from 2012-07-24T19:50

Thousands of British troops have been deployed to conflict zones since 2001, in the so-called War on Terror. Research is now beginning to confirm what many people have suspected - that a sizeable m...

European Funding from 2012-07-17T19:50

The EU has allocated millions of pounds in grants to help our towns and cities regenerate. So why are some complaining they can't get their hands on the cash? European rules mean Britain has to put...

Abuse in Sport from 2012-07-10T19:50

It was the Paul Hickson scandal in the mid 90s which first brought the issue of sexual abuse in sport to the public eye. The Olympic swimming coach was jailed for 17 years for raping and sexually a...

Asset Returns from 2012-07-03T19:50

The Arab world's newest governments are desperate to retrieve billions banked in Britain by despots including Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. The money, they say, was stolen fr...

School Inspections from 2012-06-26T20:00

Ofsted has a new, hard-line chief inspector and a new, tougher inspection regime - and in the past few months that has led to a spike in the number of schools deemed inadequate. Predictably, there...

Secret Justice from 2012-06-19T19:40

Ministers want to extend secret hearings to Britain's civil courts - so judges can deal with the increasing number of cases involving the intelligence services. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke says ...

NHS Queues from 2012-06-12T19:45

Hospital waiting times are a key measure of success for the NHS. But do the official figures accurately reflect the reality for patients across the UK? In Scotland the waiting time data has been c...

Police Racism from 2012-06-05T19:50

Is institutional racism still alive in the police? Black and Asian officers claim discrimination is thwarting progress through the ranks and destroying promising careers.

Witness Protection from 2012-03-27T20:00

After details of people under witness protection were leaked to a private investigator, Allan Urry asks if police are doing enough to protect witnesses whose lives are at risk.

A Bridge Too Far? from 2012-03-20T21:00

To the west of Edinburgh, construction of the new £1.5bn Forth road bridge will use steel from Poland, Spain and China. A local steel plant near Motherwell lost out as part of a consortium bidding...

Tax Avoidance from 2012-03-13T21:00

How strong is the government's commitment to ending schemes set up to minimise tax? A number of schemes have proved popular in the private sector, including Employee Benefit Trusts. These have been...

Family Annihilation from 2012-03-07T11:10

In the last two months, three fathers have killed their partners, children and themselves. File on 4 investigates what drives these men to take such drastic action.

The programme talks to ...

Credit Rating Agencies from 2012-02-28T21:00

Their judgments send markets into freefall. It is alleged that their mistakes led to the Enron collapse and the 2008 financial crisis. They are the credit rating agencies. Who exactly are they and ...

Diabetes from 2012-02-21T21:00

New NHS research has revealed the shocking toll of preventable deaths caused by just one medical condition. Diabetes - in which the body fails to control blood sugar levels safely - is causing 24,0...

Iranian Sanctions from 2012-02-14T20:40

With the EU poised to ban oil imports from Iran, Allan Urry assesses the impact of international sanctions on Britain and Europe.

Designed to curb Iran's nuclear programme, the oil embarg...

BioSecurity from 2012-02-07T20:45

Dutch and American scientists have succeeded in mutating a deadly bird-flu virus to make it easily transmissible to humans. If it got out, it could start a fatal epidemic. They keep it securely loc...

Police Restraint from 2012-01-31T20:41

Inquests in England are increasingly hearing a new term to explain deaths in police custody: Excited Delirium. It's a diagnosis with origins in the United States, where it has been associated with ...

Carers in Conflict from 2012-01-24T20:40

Jenny Cuffe talks to foster parents who find themselves battling with local authorities over the children in their care. They describe a Kafkaesque nightmare where doors are shut, telephone calls a...

Coroners Under Scrutiny from 2011-11-15T20:45

Are families getting justice in the coroner's court?
Ann Alexander investigates concerns about the conduct of inquests in England and Wales and asks why there is so much variation in behaviour ...

Costing the Games from 2011-11-08T20:45

With plans for future use of London's Olympic stadium in disarray, Allan Urry asks whether taxpayers' billions will leave a lasting legacy from 2012.

London's successful bid to stage the 2...

Cash from the Crisis from 2011-10-25T19:45

World leaders preparing for the G20 conference are facing a threat to the global economy from the on-going Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. But as they try to avert further economic catastrophe some...

Madrassas from 2011-10-18T19:45

Earlier this year, an imam working in Stoke-on-Trent was jailed for raping a 12 year old boy at his mosque. In the wake of the case, File on 4 investigates whether the thousands of children who vis...

Planning Rows from 2011-10-11T19:45

With the Government's controversial reforms under fire from countryside campaigners, Allan Urry investigates radical changes to the planning system.

Ministers insist more housing is neede...

Energy Prices from 2011-10-04T19:45

Household gas and electricity bills are set to soar, leaving millions at risk of 'fuel poverty' and vulnerable to cold as winter approaches.
The government's hopes for recovery in UK manufactur...

NHS Procurement from 2011-09-27T19:45

The Department of Health wants to slash £1.2 billion off the bill for hospital supplies -- everything from bandages and rubber gloves to operating tables and medical equipment.

The planned...

Cyber Spies from 2011-09-20T19:44

The criminal exploitation of the internet poses one of the biggest threats to UK national security. As organised crime gangs and terrorists use it to communicate and plan their activities, the poli...

Kick Starting Recovery? from 2011-08-09T19:45

The Government's strategy to boost local enterprise in England began poorly. The Director of the CBI criticised it as 'a shambles' and Business Secretary Vince Cable admitted it was 'Maoist and cha...

Exiles in Fear from 2011-08-02T19:45

The UK is the largest bilateral donor to Rwanda, giving around £83m a year. President Paul Kagame is praised by the British government for bringing stability and economic growth to a country torn ...

Revolving Doors from 2011-07-26T19:45

Each year scores of senior civil servants and ex-government ministers quit Whitehall for higher-paid posts in business. Companies in the fields of defence, health, energy and transport are particul...

An Emergency Crisis? from 2011-07-19T19:45

Why are ambulances queuing up to unload patients needing treatment at hospital Accident and Emergency Departments? Some senior A and E medics say there are too few beds and not enough staff in a fr...

Open Borders? from 2011-07-12T19:40

The Border Agency is charged with preventing drugs, weapons and would-be illegal immigrants from getting to the UK. But three years after being created, the Agency has been accused by MPs of failin...

Business As Usual? from 2011-07-05T19:45

In the wake of the financial disaster, policy makers and regulators around the world pledged to make banking safer and more transparent. But the reality, many experts claim, is proving very differe...

Elderly Care from 2011-06-28T19:40

Over the last month Britain's biggest provider of care homes for the elderly, Southern Cross, has been beset by financial woes. But across the country an even deeper crisis is unfolding as local au...

A Living Death from 2011-06-21T19:40

A review into the care of patients in vegetative or low awareness states has been launched by the Royal College of Physicians. There are thought to be as many as 5000 such people in the UK.
The...

PFI Profits from 2011-06-15T08:50

For two decades, the Private Finance Initiative has been a controversial way of building new hospitals, schools, roads and prisons. Well over £200bn of taxpayers' money has been committed to the co...

The Iran Connection from 2011-06-07T21:45

Is Iran exploiting the turmoil caused by the Arab Spring, and the uncertainly following the killing of Osama Bin Laden? After Iranian military rockets were found on the battlefields of Afghanistan,...

Air Crashes from 2011-04-05T21:40

The investigation following an air disaster is supposed to make air travel safer. But do the reports always get to the truth about why planes crash? Emma Jane Kirby examines claims that internation...

Memory on Trial from 2011-03-29T22:40

Do we understand enough about how memory works to properly assess evidence in sex abuse cases when allegations date back decades? Can juries make decisions based on their common sense in complex ca...

Organs Failure? from 2011-03-22T21:40

Is the NHS doing enough to combat the crisis in organ donations for transplants? Allan Urry examines the challenge of ensuring more suitable donors are available at a time when those waiting for li...

Egypt's Missing Millions from 2011-03-15T21:42

File On 4. Banks and fraud squads across the world are beginning the task of tracing a vast fortune stolen from the Egyptian people by members of the Mubarak regime. Some estimates have suggested t...