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 cases? The number of so called "historic abuse cases" making their way through the coruts has increased in recent years following changes in the law that make it easier to bring them to trial and a greater willingness on behalf of victims to come forward. These are among the most difficult cases the just...
Mar 29, 2011•37 min
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 life saving operations are increasing. Surgeons are reporting worse outcomes for some patients, as poorer quality organs have to be used because of chronic shortages. This comes despite a big drive by the Department of Health to improve availability. But, are opportunities to recover more organs being mi...
Mar 22, 2011•37 min
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 the missing money could run into many billions of pounds. Ministers, businessmen and members of the president's family have deposited vast sums in Swiss bank accounts and bought luxury properties in London. Where did all this wealth come from? How was the Egyptian government able to continue abusing its...
Mar 15, 2011•37 min
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 appear to confirm an improving trend. But the families of some of those seriously injured and killed in workplace accidents say too many employers are still gettings off too lightly even when they've been found responsible for serious breaches of health and safety legislation. As the government proposes li...
Mar 08, 2011•37 min
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. But how much do we know about the effectiveness and value for money offered by doctors in General Practice? Gerry Northam reports.
Mar 01, 2011•38 min
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 refugee camps. But discontent among passengers and airlines goes well beyond winter readiness. Julian O'Halloran asks how one operator BAA, justifies its grip on no fewer than half a dozen British airports? And questions whether government and regulators need to take more control over the industry in or...
Feb 22, 2011•37 min
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 theory behind so-called Shaken Baby Syndrome, has turned toxic among the expert witnesses whose evidence is so critical in determining guilt or innocence. Andrew Hosken examines claims of a campaign of dirty tricks to discredit those who question the orthodoxy and hears calls from one of the country's lead...
Feb 15, 2011•36 min
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 investigates the crimes they committed and asks if more could have been done to stop them. A constable given a life sentence earlier this month for a series of sex attacks on vulnerable women he met while on duty, had previously been put on trial for rape, during his time in the army. Why didn't the police service know this when they agreed to empl...
Feb 08, 2011•37 min
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 against members of other Islamic sects who they regard as infidels. One group that's been targeted accuses the authorities of not doing enough to protect them - and says political correctness has resulted in Britain tolerating the intolerant. Producer: David Lewis.
Feb 01, 2011•37 min
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 year. But now many economists predict interest rates will rise in the course of 2011, fuelling fears that Britain's housing market could be facing a double dip. With banks chasing profits and affordable mortgages harder to find. Michael Robinson asks what impact the new housing freeze will have on Brita...
Jan 25, 2011•37 min
Legal aid has been withdrawn from a long-running case against a pharmaceutical giant. Children born with severe disabilities, including spina bifida, were suing the manufacturer of an anti-epilepsy drug which their mothers took during pregnancy and which they blame for causing birth defects - a claim the company denies. After years of legal proceedings which the claimants' solicitors say have so far cost £3.25m, the Legal Services Commision refused a much smaller sum to take the case to trial, j...
Jan 18, 2011•37 min
Europe's Missing Millions Over the last seven years, the European Union has paid out billions of Euros in grants designed to revitalise Europe's poorest regions. But an investigation for File on 4 has revealed the extent to which these payments are open to widespread fraud, abuse and mismanagement. Angus Stickler tracks how money has gone astray across the 27 member states and asks why funding continues in regions with proven records of corruption and fraud. Throughout the EU there is evidence t...
Nov 30, 2010•37 min
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 and safety. The regulator - the Care Quality Commission - is promising to monitor homes and take action against those who fail to meet standards. But unions say the numbers of inspectors has been cut. They are warning of fewer inspections and say staff are so overstretched they could miss vital warning signs of abuse or neglect. Worried relatives s...
Nov 23, 2010•37 min
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 railways are so much more expensive than other European countries. Passengers in some parts of the UK complain they are caught out by a complex and confusing system of ticketing, which unfairly penalises them. Does it have to be so difficult to find out what the restrictions are on your journey? Why aren't there enough carriages for commuters travelling at...
Nov 17, 2010•37 min
Under the Prime Minister's project for The Big Society, the coalition government wants charities to have much greater involvement in the running of public services. At the same time, substantial cuts are expected in official regulators which check that charities are competent and honest. Recent financial scandals have shown the vulnerability of even the most prestigious organisations to systematic fraud. The Charity Commission admits that a quarter of charities fail to file their accounts on tim...
Nov 09, 2010•37 min
Jenny Cuffe investigates how British-based Somalis are being lured into fighting for the al-Qaeda-linked Islamists of al-Shabaab. There have been consistent rumours that dozens, perhaps scores of British-based Somali men have travelled to Somalia to join the militant Islamist group which was banned by the British Government earlier this year. In September the rumours were given new urgency when the Director of MI5, Jonathan Evans, warned it was only a matter of time before the UK suffered an act...
Nov 02, 2010•37 min
While the government axes public spending to try to cut the deficit, Michael Robinson investigates loopholes which let big businesses slash their UK tax bills. This month George Osborne said he plans to make Britain the most attractive corporate tax regime in the G20. But some companies have already moved abroad for tax reasons. And for others able to operate on a global scale, there are many ways for them to reduce their tax liability. So how does the Government square the tax circle? Producer:...
Oct 26, 2010•37 min
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 the whole of the NHS. But now the process is faltering, as a series of foundation trusts hit grave financial, managerial or care quality problems. And though the NHS was meant to be ring-fenced from the deep cuts now hitting the rest of the public sector, a number foundation hospital trusts are facing bed closures and serious job losses. In some c...
Oct 19, 2010•37 min
Do Insolvency Practitioners measure up to the high standards expected of them when they are called in to a stricken business? Allan Urry examines concerns that some IP's don't always act in the best interests of creditors who are owed money when companies fail. Are landlords right to complain they've been getting a raw deal because some corporate undertakers side too much with their retail paymasters, who are pushing for reduced rents because their businesses are in trouble. The Office of Fair T...
Oct 12, 2010•37 min
The planned withdrawal of British and other foreign troops from Afghanistan relies on the Afghan army and police to take over security duties. Since 2002, the USA has spent $27bn - over half of its total reconstruction fund - training and equipping Afghan forces. The aim is to build up an army of 171,600 people and a police force of 134,000 by October 2011. The Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants national forces to be in complete control of the country by 2014. But these targets, and the loyalty...
Oct 05, 2010•37 min
