File on 4 Investigates
Episodes
Iran's Nuclear Standoff
28 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
There's mounting concern over the Iranian nuclear programme. Is Tehran is simply playing cat and mouse with the international community and buying tim...
Superbugs
21 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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 l...
Rochdale Abuse: Failed Victims?
26 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Dangerous Hospitals?
19 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal, investigations are going on at 14 other hospitals in England identified as having above average...
Mali: Europe's Terror Threat
12 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
The French authorities acknowledge their intervention in Mali has made them terrorist target number one. In recent weeks, the country has raised its t...
Britain in Flood
26 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Has the Government done enough to protect communities from flooding? Were cuts in river maintenance work responsible for farmers land in Somerset bein...
Britain's Plutonium Mountain
19 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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 coul...
The Bill for Brussels
12 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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 No...
Russian Riches
05 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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 e...
Taxing Questions
29 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
After a series of controversies over the tax bills of multinationals such as Google and Starbucks, ministers have been talking tough about avoidance. ...
Hospitals - Open All Hours?
22 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Illicit Arms Trade
15 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
The recent conviction of an arms broker from Yorkshire has raised serious concerns about the murky world of the international weapons trade. Gary Hyde...
Highways Agency
20 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Zombie Effect
13 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 i...
Second-Class Patients?
06 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Britain has 1.5 million people with learning difficulties, and the number is growing. Campaigners say the health service is struggling to cope: the nu...
Too Many Chiefs?
30 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Public, Private and Profitable
23 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
The midnight collapse of the Government's plans for the West Coast main railway line once again raises questions about the outsourcing of public servi...
Recoiling the Arab Spring
16 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Alcohol Fraud
09 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 acco...
Undercover Cops
02 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
How far should undercover police officers go to gather intelligence?Jane Deith talks exclusively to women suing the Metropolitan police claiming they ...
Green on Blue
25 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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...
07/08/2012
07 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 su...
Tuberculosis
31 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Figures released this month reveal almost 9000 new tuberculosis cases in the United Kingdom last year, the highest level since the 1970s. The disease ...
Violent Veterans
24 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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...
European Funding
17 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Abuse in Sport
10 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 wa...
Asset Returns
03 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
The Arab world's newest governments are desperate to retrieve billions banked in Britain by despots including Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubara...
School Inspections
26 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Secret Justice
19 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Ministers want to extend secret hearings to Britain's civil courts - so judges can deal with the increasing number of cases involving the intelligence...
NHS Queues
12 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Police Racism
05 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Is institutional racism still alive in the police? Black and Asian officers claim discrimination is thwarting progress through the ranks and destroyin...
Witness Protection
27 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
After details of people under witness protection were leaked to a private investigator, Allan Urry asks if police are doing enough to protect witnesse...
A Bridge Too Far?
20 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 Mot...
Tax Avoidance
13 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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, inc...
Family Annihilation
07 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 d...
Credit Rating Agencies
28 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 cr...
Diabetes
21 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
New NHS research has revealed the shocking toll of preventable deaths caused by just one medical condition. Diabetes - in which the body fails to cont...
Iranian Sanctions
14 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 Ira...
BioSecurity
07 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 st...
Police Restraint
31 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
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 Un...
Carers in Conflict
24 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Cuffe talks to foster parents who find themselves battling with local authorities over the children in their care. They describe a Kafkaesque ni...
Coroners Under Scrutiny
15 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Are families getting justice in the coroner's court? Ann Alexander investigates concerns about the conduct of inquests in England and Wales and asks w...
Costing the Games
08 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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.L...
An Inside Job?
01 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The Justice Secretary Ken Clarke wants more jobs for convicts. He told his party conference: "If we want prison to work, then our prisoners have got t...
Cash from the Crisis
25 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Madrassas
18 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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 investi...
Planning Rows
11 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
With the Government's controversial reforms under fire from countryside campaigners, Allan Urry investigates radical changes to the planning system. M...
Energy Prices
04 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Household gas and electricity bills are set to soar, leaving millions at risk of 'fuel poverty' and vulnerable to cold as winter approaches. The gover...
NHS Procurement
27 Sep 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The Department of Health wants to slash £1.2 billion off the bill for hospital supplies -- everything from bandages and rubber gloves to operating ta...
Cyber Spies
20 Sep 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Kick Starting Recovery?
09 Aug 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The Government's strategy to boost local enterprise in England began poorly. The Director of the CBI criticised it as 'a shambles' and Business Secret...
Exiles in Fear
02 Aug 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Revolving Doors
26 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Each year scores of senior civil servants and ex-government ministers quit Whitehall for higher-paid posts in business. Companies in the fields of def...
An Emergency Crisis?
19 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Why are ambulances queuing up to unload patients needing treatment at hospital Accident and Emergency Departments? Some senior A and E medics say ther...
Open Borders?
12 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The Border Agency is charged with preventing drugs, weapons and would-be illegal immigrants from getting to the UK. But three years after being create...
Business As Usual?
05 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of the financial disaster, policy makers and regulators around the world pledged to make banking safer and more transparent. But the reali...
Elderly Care
28 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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...
A Living Death
21 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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...
PFI Profits
15 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
For two decades, the Private Finance Initiative has been a controversial way of building new hospitals, schools, roads and prisons. Well over £200bn ...
The Iran Connection
07 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Is Iran exploiting the turmoil caused by the Arab Spring, and the uncertainly following the killing of Osama Bin Laden? After Iranian military rockets...
Air Crashes
05 Apr 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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? E...
Memory on Trial
29 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Do we understand enough about how memory works to properly assess evidence in sex abuse cases when allegations date back decades? Can juries make deci...
Organs Failure?
22 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Is the NHS doing enough to combat the crisis in organ donations for transplants? Allan Urry examines the challenge of ensuring more suitable donors ar...
Egypt's Missing Millions
15 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Danger at Work
08 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Following the recent first conviction and hefty fine under new Corporate Manslaughter legislation, the UK's health and safety regime has been hailed a...
Doctors in Charge
01 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Success of the Government's proposed NHS reforms in England rests on family doctors. GPs will be responsible for commissioning treatment for their pat...
Airport Woes
22 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Business travel and Christmas holidays were ruined for hundreds of thousands of people by snow. While many airports abroad bounced back quickly from b...
Shaken Babies?
15 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Bent Cops
08 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Are police doing enough to tackle corruption in their ranks? Following a number of high profile trials in which officers have been jailed, Allan Urry ...
Tolerating the Intolerant?
01 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Reporter Jenny Cuffe investigates claims that one of the groups behind the blasphemy law in Pakistan is also active in the UK. The religious extremist...
Homes but no loans
25 Jan 2011
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Bitter Medicine
18 Jan 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Legal aid has been withdrawn from a long-running case against a pharmaceutical giant. Children born with severe disabilities, including spina bifida, ...
Europe's Missing Millions
30 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Europe's Missing MillionsOver the last seven years, the European Union has paid out billions of Euros in grants designed to revitalise Europe's poores...
Care Homes: When An Inspector Calls
23 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
A new law regulating care homes in England came into force last month. All homes must be registered and ensure they meet certain standards of quality ...
The Great Train Robbery?
17 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
It's been dubbed the Great Train Robbery, but Allan Urry asks who's robbing who? With fares set to rise, the programme examines why Britain's railway...
Charities - Giving and Taking
09 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Under the Prime Minister's project for The Big Society, the coalition government wants charities to have much greater involvement in the running of pu...
The Somali Connection
02 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Cuffe investigates how British-based Somalis are being lured into fighting for the al-Qaeda-linked Islamists of al-Shabaab.There have been consi...
A Taxing Dilemma
26 Oct 2010
Contributed by Lukas
While the government axes public spending to try to cut the deficit, Michael Robinson investigates loopholes which let big businesses slash their UK t...
Foundation Hospitals: An Acute Crisis?
19 Oct 2010
Contributed by Lukas
The drive to make acute hospitals more prudent and independent through foundation trust status was meant to usher in a new era of prudent spending for...
Insolvency Practitioners: A Corporate Killing
12 Oct 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Do Insolvency Practitioners measure up to the high standards expected of them when they are called in to a stricken business? Allan Urry examines conc...
Afghanistan: Enemies Within
05 Oct 2010
Contributed by Lukas
The planned withdrawal of British and other foreign troops from Afghanistan relies on the Afghan army and police to take over security duties. Since 2...