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, Professor Dame Sally Davies, has painted an apocalyptic picture where routine operations could become deadly in just 20 years if we lose the ability to fight infection. But the programme discovers growing concern among doctors that bugs found in our hospitals have already developed the ability to withstand...
May 21, 2013•37 min
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 authorities deal with this kind of abuse. But were there crucial failings? In an exclusive interview for File on 4, one of the police officers involved in the case claims that flaws in the way it was handled meant important witness evidence was dropped and some abusers were never prosecuted - leaving a...
Mar 26, 2013•37 min
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 it taken so long for enquiries to begin? Should the Department of Health and the hospitals regulator, the Care Quality Commission, have sounded the alarm much earlier? It took a lengthy public inquiry to get to the bottom of failings in Mid-Staffordshire. Complaints of dangerous clinical practice and s...
Mar 19, 2013•37 min
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 patrols at tourist destinations and government buildings - and a number of people suspected of planning to join Islamic extremists in Mali have been arrested. Jenny Cuffe examines concerns in France both about the rise of Islamist extremism and the tough action the authorities are taking in response. Last O...
Mar 12, 2013•38 min
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 allowing developers to continue to build on floodplains? A committee of MPs accuses the Coalition of being woefully slow to bring in measures to combat the problem. Allan Urry investigates. Producer Nicola Dowling.
Feb 26, 2013•37 min
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 making a dirty bomb. The stockpile has come from nuclear waste that was reprocessed to extract plutonium which was to have been used to power a new generation of fast breeder reactors. But that project failed to be finished and now just over 100 tonnes of it is being stored at Sellafield in Cumbria. The s...
Feb 19, 2013•37 min
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 itself has become excessive and - if so - whether member states do anything about it. In Brussels, hundreds of millions of pounds have been found for projects described by Eurosceptics as "self-aggrandisement". An art deco showpiece is being transformed into a new headquarters for the European Council at a c...
Feb 12, 2013•37 min
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 those laundering the proceeds of Russian crime. Britain is also now a destination of choice for many wealthy Russians. But how much do we know about some of those who choose to settle here? Internationally, there's tension between Washington and Moscow over the Magnitsky Act, in which the US introduced n...
Feb 05, 2013•37 min
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 Abrams looks at the reality behind the rhetoric. Will these new regulations halt the decline in corporate tax revenues? And why were so many major companies involved in writing them - even as their own tax affairs were coming under scrutiny? Producer: Rob Cave.
Jan 29, 2013•37 min
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 more likely to die if they are admitted to hospital on a Saturday or Sunday. A recent survey of hospital chief executives showed they had significant doubts their hospitals were as safe at weekends as during the week. Jane Deith examines cases which raise concerns about out of hours care in hospitals. Is...
Jan 22, 2013•37 min
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 one of the largest illegal arms deals ever uncovered: 80,000 guns and 32 million rounds of ammunition shipped from China to Nigeria - enough to equip a small army. But no-one knows where they ended up. Britain has strict regulations governing the sale and export of firearms, so how did he manage it? Wh...
Jan 15, 2013•38 min
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 involvement and to boost investment. So what future for the body that currently manages the network in England? With the CBI calling for it to be scrapped, and with criticism from local authorities and motoring organisations, Allan Urry road asks whether it's the end of the road for the Highways Agency? P...
Nov 20, 2012•37 min
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 of growing without restructuring or an injection of cash. The BBC's Chief Economics correspondent, Hugh Pym, examines businesses caught in this situation and looks at what effect they are having on the UK economy. He hears from business experts who say these companies are partly responsible for the po...
Nov 13, 2012•37 min
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 though extra support is supposed to be available for this vulnerable group, hospitals and other health facilities often struggle even to identify them. Families say their relatives have been left to die in pain - and in some cases people who were not dying have had 'do not resuscitate' orders placed on thei...
Nov 06, 2012•37 min
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 duplication of functions and gaining the economies of scale. But the move is proving controversial amid fears that it will damage local accountability and lead to worsening services in some areas. Next month in England and Wales elections will be held for 41 Police and Crime Commissioners to oversee a continu...
Oct 30, 2012•37 min
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 kinds now face massive budget cuts and are under pressure to deliver savings. As a result, across the country, public services of all kinds are now up for tender in the hope they can be delivered more cheaply by the private sector. With relatively straightforward things such as refuse collection, there...
Oct 23, 2012•37 min
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 which appeared on the internet. Jenny Cuffe investigates the spread of Salafism across the countries of the Arab Spring. She asks what threat it poses to democracy in the whole region and also examines concerns in Europe that Salafists now represent a significant security risk. Presenter: Jenny Cuffe Produ...
Oct 16, 2012•37 min
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 as high as £1.2 billion per year. MP's are demanding tougher action. But these are highly complex frauds, which take years to investigate. Allan Urry examines the scale of the challenge facing the authorities, and reveals the extent to which criminals have penetrated the legitimate market in beer, wine ...
Oct 09, 2012•37 min
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 with undercover officers. The unmasking of undercover cop Mark Kennedy who'd been infiltrating environmental protest groups has led to revelations that other officers had relationships with woman they were spying on. The women argue that the state agents they fell in love with used them physically and ...
Oct 02, 2012•37 min
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 international troops. With more than 50 NATO troops killed in insider attacks this year, is enough being done to protect those working as mentors? The US has invested over $50 billion on developing independent Afghan security forces but according to a US Government audit, the majority of Afghan troops re...
Sep 25, 2012•37 min
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 causing air pollution. Britain has the second worst respiratory death rates in Europe and has long been under notice from Brussels to clean up its act. So why are most UK areas in breach of legal limits? And do ministers have any clear plan to reduce the huge annual total of resulting deaths? Julian O'...
Aug 07, 2012•37 min
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 decade. In parts of London, Birmingham and other cities it is already at the level of high-risk countries in the developing world. Yet in most of the rest of Europe TB rates have been steadily falling in recent years. Health experts have found that cases of TB remain static among people of all ethnicities ...
Jul 31, 2012•37 min
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 minority of returning soldiers - one in ten - are displaying increased levels of violence. This is impacting on families through domestic abuse and is raising the risk of people in the wider community becoming victims. With two years to go before frontline troops are pulled out of Afghanistan, is the Ar...
Jul 24, 2012•37 min
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 up an equal amount of money. But, as Allan Urry reveals, cuts at Westminster and in town halls around the country mean that some projects have either stalled or been abandoned because no "matched funding" is available. Critics of the Government say up to a billion pounds of regeneration money will end...
Jul 17, 2012•38 min
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 abusing young girls he trained. The case led to the setting up of the Child Protection in Sport Unit and the introduction of safeguarding measures in most sports. But, more than a decade on, the problem hasn't gone away and this edition of File on 4 reveals new figures which show how many allegations of...
Jul 10, 2012•38 min
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 from their people and is needed to rebuild shattered economies. In 'File on 4' Jenny Cuffe reports on the Arab nations' mounting impatience at the lengthy and costly process of investigation demanded to prove that assets were illicitly obtained by the now deposed leaders, their families and associates. Al...
Jul 03, 2012•37 min
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 has been a corresponding wave of anger in schools - with a growing number taking to the courts to challenge the inspectors' views? So are the inspectors really up to the job? And who inspects the inspectors? Fran Abrams investigates. Producer: Rob Cave.
Jun 26, 2012•37 min
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 it is the only way that judges can hear the testimony of spies working for MI5, MI6 or GCHQ. Getting them to give evidence in open court is not an option, he says. A small number of courts already hold secret sessions to consider appeals from individuals facing deportation on evidence compiled by the sec...
Jun 19, 2012•37 min
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 called into question after a hospital trust was exposed for manipulating the figures in order to hit its targets. There's now an investigation to see if the practice has become widespread. In England the Health Secretary has hailed latest statistics showing a fall in the number of people waiting for trea...
Jun 12, 2012•37 min
Is institutional racism still alive in the police? Black and Asian officers claim discrimination is thwarting progress through the ranks and destroying promising careers.
Jun 05, 2012•37 min
