File on 4 Investigates

'High Way' to Hell

06 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, the government introduced legislation banning the production, distribution, sale and supply of legal highs. Designed to stop what h...

What Happened at Aston Hall Hospital?

19 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Police are investigating allegations of abuse made by people who, as children, were sent for psychiatric treatment at Aston Hall Hospital in Derbyshir...

Trade and Torture

12 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Price of PFI

05 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Successive government procurement strategies have repeatedly promised high quality public buildings made possible through Private Finance Initiatives,...

Whose Right to Buy Is It Anyway?

21 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Child Protection

14 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The recent deaths of children at the hands of family members have revealed some children's social work departments are still failing children some nin...

The Cancer Drugs Fund

07 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Fair Game

31 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 e...

An Unsafe Conviction?

24 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Police Firepower

17 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Police forces in England and Wales are to get an additional fifteen hundred firearms officers to help protect the public from terrorism and organised ...

Dirty Oil?

10 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Serious Fraud Office has begun an investigation into allegations of corruption in the award of multi-million pound oil contracts in the Middle Eas...

The Panama Papers

05 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This week's massive leak of confidential documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, has given unprecedented access to the way the rich a...

Tennis: The Italian Files

15 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Two months ago a File on 4 investigation into match-fixing in tennis made headlines around the world. The programme revealed how tennis authorities ha...

UK Asylum: A Systems Failure?

08 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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

Special Guardianships: Keeping Things in the Family?

01 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Special guardianship orders are a way of giving legal status to those - usually grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters - who come forwar...

Dementia: What Do We Know?

23 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Sunni Shia Splits?

16 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Are international conflicts creating tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the UK? Shabnam Mahmood reports from both Sunni and Shia communities a...

After the Floods - A Tale of Two Cities

09 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 histo...

Vaccine Damages

03 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 w...

NHS Contracts: Tender Issues

26 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 Cambri...

Tennis: Game, Set and Fix?

22 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 warni...

Bent Cops?

12 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 vict...

An Inside Job

10 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Locum Doctors: Bad for Your Health?

03 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 m...

The Billion-Dollar Aid Question

27 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 countr...

Can Rotherham Recover?

20 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Like other steel communities, Rotherham faces the loss of hundreds of jobs following the recent announcement of redundancies at the local plant. It's ...

Colleges in Crisis

13 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

David Cameron has promised three million new apprenticeships by 2020. But Further Education colleges must deliver them against a background of year-on...

Dirty Money UK

06 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 1...

Missing Medicines

29 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Working in the Shadows

22 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

With the Government cracking down on migrants working illegally, Simon Cox investigates Britain's shadow economy. He meets illegal workers to ask whet...

CPS: Prosecutors on Trial

15 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Controversial charging decisions in the cases of Lord Janner, Operation Elveden and a doctor accused of female genital mutilation have brought a hosti...

The Cost of a Cuppa

09 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Police Complaints: A Fair Cop?

14 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 app...

Off Track: Network Rail

08 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Works behind schedule; costs going up; an inquiry into poor performance announced by the industry regulator. It's a depressingly familiar story on our...

The Aid Business

30 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 Bri...

Ticket to Hide

23 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Treating Stroke: The Doctors' Dilemma

16 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Later this month the medicines regulator, the MHRA, is due to complete its review into the clot-busting drug Alteplase, the frontline treatment used i...

Housing Blight?

09 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Abandoned to their Fate

02 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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, ...

Minding the Gap: Mental Healthcare

19 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Mental health services are facing a period of unprecedented change. The Department of Health has committed itself to reducing the disparity between sp...

Who Killed Emma?

12 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 pro...

Targeting the Vulnerable

05 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Gun Control: Europe's Flooded Market

24 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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

Sick of School

17 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Is the pressure on teachers reaching crisis point? Record numbers are leaving the classroom and thousands of teachers recently responded to the Govern...

A Pensions Patchwork

10 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In Canada, everything is big - including powerful pension funds such as the Ontario Teachers fund which owns half of Birmingham airport and other larg...

No Place of Safety

03 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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

Insurance and Child Abuse

24 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

With a growing number of compensation claims arising from cases of historic sexual abuse and more recent high profile cases of sexual grooming, Tim Wh...

Islamic State: Looting for Terror

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Asylum Seekers

10 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 consid...

Where Have All the Nurses Gone?

27 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Benefit Sanctions

20 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 reas...

Prison Violence

13 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

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 Aff...

Continuing Healthcare: The Secret Fund

18 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Dirty Secrets

11 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Private Equity: Winners and Losers

04 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 Last Taboo?

28 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

As inquiries into child abuse in Rotherham continue, File on 4 investigates claims of a hidden problem of sexual abuse within Britain's Asian communit...

Ebola

21 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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...

NHS: Testing the Market

14 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 St...

Fraud: The Thin Blue Line

07 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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

Border Security: All at Sea?

30 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Rigged Markets?

23 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Abused but Not Heard

16 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 ab...

Childhood Cancer

15 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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, ...

Late Payments

08 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Last month, in the Queen's Speech, the Government announced a series of measures to support small businesses -- including proposals to deal with the p...

A Deadly Dilemma

01 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Yarl's Wood

24 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Inside the Abattoir

17 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Northern Ireland: A Bitter Legacy

10 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Short-selling Students?

03 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 inst...

Practices Under Pressure

27 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 appoint...

Miscarriage of Justice

20 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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

Street Slaves

13 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 l...

Election Fraud

11 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

With local authority elections due in May, Allan Urry investigates claims of organised vote rigging.Earlier this year, the Electoral Commission identi...

The Accountant Kings

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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" a...

Deadly Hospitals?

25 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Repeat Offenders

18 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Probation staff are currently being told where they will be working under a radical reform of the service. The government is transferring the manageme...

Flooding: Best Laid Plans?

11 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Flights grounded. Trains cancelled. Roads flooded. It's becoming a familiar story every winter as Britain's transport systems are battered by the weat...

Cut-Price Care

04 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Food Fraud

28 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 targe...

Default by Design?

21 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Last month a report by a government advisor, Lawrence Tomlinson, accused The Royal Bank of Scotland of forcing some viable businesses into insolvency....

Liquid Assets

14 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

As water companies submit their spending plans for the next five years, Lesley Curwen investigates what happens to the money once the household water ...

Chemical Weapons

07 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

A Healthy Market?

12 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The biggest ever slice of the NHS is up for grabs in Cambridgeshire. Ten bidders, including NHS hospital trusts and private companies Serco, Virgin Ca...

Up to the Job?

05 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 i...

Deadly Drugs

29 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

What Price Social Housing?

22 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 delive...

The Syrian Connection

15 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 ea...

HS2: Winners and Losers

08 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Electricity Prices: A Shock to the System?

01 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The Government wants more wind power and nuclear energy to supply our electricity, but how well is it delivering that plan? In Scotland where conditio...

Secrecy and Surveillance

24 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Recent revelations about secret mass surveillance programmes have raised fears about potential abuses of individual privacy in favour of national secu...

What Price Cheap Clothes?

17 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

A Place of Safety?

30 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Psychiatric hospitals have a duty to keep their patients safe, which means taking extra care with patients suffering acute depression who may be at ri...

Coal Comfort?

23 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 y...

Tobacco: The Lobbyists

16 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 Aust...

Faith, Hope and... Tax Avoidance

09 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 M...

NHS: Pricing Patients

02 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 li...

Petrol Prices

25 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The way in which oil is traded on commodities markets is coming under close scrutiny. Last month, officers of the European Commission raided the Londo...

Council Asset Sales

18 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 op...

Grooming: A Life Sentence?

11 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

In the latest high profile grooming trial, 7 men from Oxford will be sentenced later this month for sexually exploiting and raping 6 schoolgirls. Poli...

Elderly Care: Neglected Questions

04 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

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 col...