File on 4 Investigates

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 shower, domiciliary carers provide a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of elderly and vulnerable people. But what happens when things go wrong and carers inflict serious abuse and neglect on the people who depend on them? Lesley Curwen speaks to the families of elderly people who have been neglected in some cases left for days without proper medication or attention to personal hygiene - with devastating results.Experts say cuts to local authority care funding, unmanageable workloads and poor training are contributing to the toll of abuse. So how can families be assured that their family member is in safe hands?And after File on 4 previously uncovered evidence of widespread sex abuse in care homes, we ask whether enough is being done to protect the most vulnerable people in society in their own homes.Reporter: Lesley Curwen Producer: Ben Robinson.

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 known as pupil referral units (PRUs) - schools for kids that the mainstream can't handle.But five years on from the Taylor Review, a report that found 'a flawed system' that failed to provide good education and accountability for 'some of the most vulnerable children in the country' - has anything really changed?File on 4 hears allegations of a system under pressure; of illegal exclusions, 'missing kids' and how some schools are controversially manipulating league tables through 'managed moves'. We also hear from whistle-blowers from one school who claim an overburdened system and a rise of referrals of kids with extreme and complex needs have led to an increase in the use of physical restraint to manage escalating violent behaviour in classrooms."Reporter: Adrian Goldberg Producer: Alys Harte.

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 enough progress had been made to create a more open culture within the NHS following the Mid Staffs inquiry which unearthed the poor care and high mortality rates at Stafford Hospital.The report - which considered evidence from 600 individuals and 43 organisations across the country included chilling accounts of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals whose lives and careers had been destroyed after trying to raise legitimate concerns about patient safety.Whistle-blowers said they'd been left financially ruined, blacklisted and sent to the brink of suicide after being branded snitches and trouble-makers.Revealing a continuing culture of secrecy with trusts demonising whistle-blowers instead of welcoming and investigating their concerns, it was hoped the report would herald a new era of openness and accountability.File on 4 investigates what has happened since and asks whether measures put in place to protect those speaking out about patient safety are fit for purpose.Doctors who have spoken up since say they've faced the same catalogue of bullying and abuse by their employers, and in some cases, the focus remains on protecting reputations of Trusts, rather than addressing poor care. So is the culture changing quickly enough?Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Nicola Dowling.

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 Scourfield, a middle-ranking banker with Halifax Bank of Scotland, accepted bribes in cash, foreign holidays and sexual entertainment. In exchange he would require small business customers to hire a firm of consultants called Quayside Corporate Services. The consultants claimed to be able to turn the business customers' fortunes around - but the truth was very different. File on 4 follows the story of two small Hbos clients, former rock and rollers, who fought for a decade to expose the fraud, even as the bank sought to repossess their home. We ask how this could happen, and how to prevent the ongoing mistreatment of small business customers by the banks.Reporter: Andy Verity Producer: David Lewis Editor: Gail Champion.

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 the moment only 34% of families from ethnic minorities consent to donate organs when asked, and rates of living donation have started to fall.File on 4 finds that a small number of patients are so desperate they will risk their health by looking for a kidney abroad. Most British patients head to Pakistan, where an equally desperate group of people are coerced into giving up their kidneys, placing their lives in the hands of organ traffickers. But now a new, sinister trade is emerging in Pakistan. In October Pakistani police raided an apartment building in Rawalpindi and behind a metal grill, found 24 terrified people locked inside. They had been lured with offers of jobs, but when they arrived were kidnapped and told a kidney would be removed.As a worldwide shortage of organs fuels an increase in transplant tourism, Allan Urry, working in conjunction with local journalist Nosheen Abbas hears from the people caught up in this illegal trade and asks whether enough is being done to prevent it. Reporters: Allan Urry with Nosheen Abbas Producer: Ruth Evans Researcher: Usman Zahid.

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 Brexit, is under pressure to be tough on immigration.But File on 4 has found a market in fake documentation is helping some migrants who aren't eligible to come here, to get the necessary visas.High street immigration advisers, and even a solicitor tell the programme's undercover researcher how to buy their way in using fake documentation.The programme asks what the authorities are doing to catch the crooks.Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Paul Grant Editor: Gail Champion.

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 Syria and Afghanistan, living by their wits on the streets of Athens. The controversial deal struck between the EU and Turkey to return migrants who don't claim asylum or who have their claims rejected - and the closing of borders with Greece - has been blamed for making the situation worse for many migrants who now find themselves in limbo in Greece. The millions pledged by the EU don't seem to be bringing relief on the ground either. The programme hears from the lucky ones who have found spaces at shelters for unaccompanied children in Greece's capital. Here they are fed, clothed and supported in their legal cases. Others, on the island of Samos, are celebrating securing asylum in Greece. But most children on the island are not celebrating. They feel stuck in a system that cannot cope and held in a country that was meant to be a transit point, not a place to stay.Increasingly the locals in Samos don't want them to say either. Tensions are flaring in the area around the vastly overcrowded camp, with Golden Dawn active nearby. Around 3,000 residents turned out to protest about their sense of abandonment by the Greek government and the EU. Local officials describe the island as 'trembling on a bridge above troubled water.'With an estimated 2300 unaccompanied migrant children in Greece, more than half of whom are on the waiting list for shelter, File on 4 asks whether the EU is doing enough to care for those most in need of protection. Reporter: Phil Kemp Producer: Sally Chesworth Editor: Gail Champion.

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 the UK by corrupt foreign officials and international crime gangs? Allan Urry investigates claims that not enough is being done by the UK to tackle the laundering of corrupt assets or to assist nations who ask for help in getting their money back. The programme also hears complaints that British law enforcement is refusing to investigate cases. Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: David Lewis.

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 between April and June this year - a 10 per cent increase on the previous year. Increasingly councils are having to use temporary accommodation and even bed and breakfasts to cope with a shortage of affordable accommodation. It has become an increasingly profitable business for landlords. Research this year for London councils found that they had spent over £650 million in the capital on temporary accommodation in just one year. Charities say changes to the benefit cap which comes into effect next week will make the situation for families looking for a home, even worse. File on 4 reports from the front line of the homelessness crisis. The programme meets the families sent by councils to live in cramped, filthy conditions. We hear from the doctors who claim emergency accommodation in one city is affecting people's mental health and contributing to an increase in deaths and the local authority keeping families in B&B accommodation longer than they are legally allowed to.Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Nicola Dowling.

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".The 2015 Modern Slavery Act gave prosecutors more options to pursue offenders, it handed judges the ability to dole out life sentences and promised more protection for victims. But in the clamour to tackle modern slavery, has the plight of overseas domestic workers, who toil in the homes of wealthy overseas visitors as nannies, cooks and cleaners, been forgotten?This summer File on 4 followed migrant domestic workers as they escaped abusive employers in the dead of night. Through their stories, the programme questions whether recent measures go far enough to adequately protect an invisible workforce who've been tricked and trapped into a life of exploitation.Reporter: Phillip Kemp Producers: Sarah Shebbeare & Ben Robinson.

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 more that would follow around the country, would generate as much electricity as Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. But does the government's commitment to the wave of new nuclear threaten the future of renewable energy in the UK? Jane Deith hears about the options the government's considered to meet an EU target of providing 15% of energy from renewables by 2020. Does the answer lie in buying in renewable power from Norway, or 'credit transfers' from countries who've hit their targets? Or does the commitment need to renegotiated completely?With growing pressure to keep a lid on bills, will renewables come second to economic interests?Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Rob Cave.

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 Pensions Regulator to ensure employers follow the rules and to protect the benefits of those who've been paying in. So how good are they at keeping your pension safe? The programme untangles the complex financial engineering that goes on as some foreign investors try to wash their hands of any on-going obligations to their UK workforce. And one former director whose actions cost a pension fund millions of pounds is confronted at his home.Producer: Paul Grant Reporter: Allan Urry.

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 risk offenders managed by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).Two years on, probation officers report a system that has been 'ripped apart', with two sides often failing to communicate. There are concerns over rising caseloads, falling staffing levels and the number of murders committed by offenders released from prison on licence. File on 4 speaks to families who have lost loved ones, and hears how they have had to fight to find out the full extent of the failings of the probation system in their cases. Charities report particular concerns over vulnerable women in the probation system, with many being recalled to prison for breaching probation orders, following short sentences for minor offences.As Transforming Rehabilitation is scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation, File on 4 asks if the changes are putting the public at risk?Reporter - Melanie Abbott Producer - Ruth Evans.

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 more ordinary UK investors are opting for the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).Set up in 1995 to allow smaller companies to raise funds, AIM is a less-regulated alternative to its big brother, the main London Stock Exchange.But it is no stranger to controversy. Once labelled a "casino" by a senior US regulator due to its lax regulation, the market has been hit by a series of recent high profile scandals.File on Four asks if this light-touch regulation poses a hidden risk for shareholders and if unscrupulous businesses are exploiting AIM to rip off ordinary British investors? Producer: Alys Harte Reporter: Simon Cox.

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 the scale of alleged sex offences taking place in residential and nursing homes. Whether 5 or 85, should the victims of sexual assault be treated any differently? Claire Savage hears from the families of elderly people, some with a form of dementia, who have been sexually abused by care workers or by other residents. We also speak to care workers about the challenges they face in dealing with intimacy and sex in care settings. Experts claim elder sex crimes are being missed or going unreported because not everyone wants to admit these offences are happening. How good are those within the care industry at recognising the signs of elder sexual abuse and at coping with the moral and ethical dilemmas of establishing when a consensual relationship becomes potential abuse?We speak to those who explain the complexities of bringing about prosecutions where the victim or perpetrator lacks mental capacity and asks if such cases are in the public interest to prosecute. Reporter: Claire Savage Producer: Emma Forde.

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 out of hospital units and into homes in the community with good support.Families of those still stuck in these units say patients are trapped in the system with no clear plan or apparent will to get them home. For those eventually discharged, almost as many others are admitted - parents say, because there aren't enough community support services.But if people are let out by the institutions, what's does so-called 'supported living' in the community look like? File on 4 hears concerns about the quantity and quality of this promised care. Parents describe living on the brink of a crisis that could land their children back in a cycle of being sectioned and locked up.NHS England says the plans are taking shape. But families say it's like living in The Twilight Zone, in a limbo hidden from mainstream view and unable to find a way out. So just how successful is the landmark 'Homes not Hospitals' plan, that aims to improve life for some of the most vulnerable patients in the NHS?Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Sally Chesworth Editor: Gail Champion.

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 flooding into the UK, it has resulted in the closure of the high street shops which had been selling exotically named substances like Spice, Mamba and China White. So why are they still finding their way onto the streets? File on 4 traces the supply back to labs in China and discovers a myriad of psychoactive substances are still only a few internet clicks away. Prior to the ban, the authorities were aware of the risk that internet sales could take over from the high street and that China is fast becoming the 'chemical and pharmaceutical wholesaler to the world'.So is the new legislation really the answer, and if not, what options remain to disrupt the now illegal supply of these lethal substances?Reporter: Danny Vincent Producer: Nicola Dowling.

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 because they were difficult to manage or had behavioural problems.The Medical Superintendent is accused of 'experimenting' on his child patients, giving them an anaesthetic called sodium amytal in therapy sessions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Phil Kemp investigates the history of this treatment, which was used on shell shocked soldiers during World War Two, employed as a 'truth serum' by police and intelligence agencies, and by the 80's had become implicated in false memory cases. The hospital closed in 2004 and the Medical Superintendent died in 1976, leaving his patients struggling to make sense of what happened to them at Aston Hall. Although treatment records reveal the sodium amytal was used on some children, former patients question what really went on while they were drugged. File on 4 opens the medical archives and hears from former staff to piece together a troubled chapter in the history of psychiatric care, and in the lives of former patients.Reporter - Phil Kemp Producer - Ruth Evans.

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 for them.The foreign office has received 43 cases of alleged abuse of UK citizens in the UAE since 2010.In exclusive interviews, File on 4 hears from those who've got out of detention in Dubai who say they were arrested without charge and subjected to violent treatment and torture. The UK government says it regularly raises Britons' cases - and allegations of mistreatment - with the UAE authorities. But those who've been stuck there tell File on 4 they didn't get the support they needed and expected when they were suffering, despite the authorities here knowing the risks they faced. The government's also promoting deals with its largest trading partner in the Middle East. Jane Deith counts up the billions of UAE investment in the UK, from container ports to housing developments.And the programme hears the arguments for joint ventures with Emirati companies - for example by NHS hospitals - as a lucrative way to generate income as budgets are squeezed, ultimately providing better services for patients here. The United Arab Emirates is seen as a stable ally in an unstable Middle East, not least in the fight against Islamic State - does that make the UK less willing to raise issues like human rights abuses and judicial process?Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Sally Chesworth.

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 wrong in Edinburgh where 17 schools remained closed after the Easter break because of fears walls might collapse on children and staff? Allan Urry reveals new concerns about the extent of fire safety problems in some schools and hospitals because contractors failed to ensure they were built to specification. How safe are they, and who's footing the bill to put them right?Producer: Ian Muir Cochrane Reporter: Allan Urry.

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 with the first homes expected to be sold in pilot areas next month. The popularity of right to buy has risen sharply since greater discounts were introduced four years ago, but so too have cases of fraud as people seek to exploit discounts of up to nearly £104,000.Simon Cox goes on the trail of the fraudsters and the companies seeking to make big bucks out of right to buy. He discovers people trying to buy homes they're not entitled to and criminals attempting to launder drugs money. He investigates companies who offer tenants help to buy their home in order to get their hands on valuable properties.He also hears concerns from experts that many housing associations do not have the resources and skills to prevent fraud which could potentially result in the loss of millions of pounds worth of much needed homesReporter: Simon Cox Producer: Paul Grant.

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 regions the reaction of the Government has been to take social workers out of the hands of councils and put them into independent trusts. So what's been going wrong - and will the radical solution coming out of Whitehall really work? Jenny Chryss investigates.Producer: Rob Cave.

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 have been spent on drugs that offered poor value for money with sometimes limited effects. The Fund is now being reformed but cancer charities have written to the Prime Minister to express deep concern that drugs will now struggle to gain approval. Phil Kemp investigates the record of the Cancer Drugs Fund and asks if the proposed changes will offer better value for money or access for patients.Reporter: Phil Kemp Producer: Anna Meisel.

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 questionable backgrounds?File on 4 explores whether clubs are vulnerable to companies and individuals who use the reputation of English football to lend credibility to their activities. But what due diligence do clubs undertake when securing such deals? Allan Urry looks at the relationship between soccer and sponsorship. He hears from some of the victims who've lost money, because they believed those who do business with the biggest names in football, could be trusted.Reporter - Allan Urry Producer - Emma Forde.

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 Bruno, were shot dead at a garage in Stockport, in Greater Manchester. The evidence produced in court against Bourke seemed compelling. Two mechanics at the garage said they had seen him carry out the shooting which the prosecution claimed was motivated by a dispute about his licence to carry out MOT tests. As the jury began their deliberations, a gun was found inside Strangeways prison where Bourke was on remand. Amid subsequent heightened security around the court, he was found guilty and given a minimum 25 year sentence. But protesting his innocence all these years means that he may never be eligible for parole so could remain in prison for the rest of his life. His sister Jo has been tirelessly fighting his case. A chiropodist with no connections to criminals, she began visiting notorious drug dealers and suspected killers to try to gather new evidence that would help clear his name. Through the work of Jo and other campaigners, Bourke's case is now back with the Criminal Cases Review Commission which they hope will lead to an appeal. So has Thomas Bourke been the victim of a shocking miscarriage of justice? Simon Cox investigates. Producer: Sally Chesworth.

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 trained within the next two years after the Prime Minister, David Cameron, set aside £143m to boost the country's armed response capability. But is it enough to meet the challenges they face? The number of firearms officers fell from nearly seven thousand in 2009/10 to under six thousand in 2013/14. And, despite the extra funding, the Police Federation is concerned the new firearms teams will have to come from existing staff. They say that will deplete the number of officers available for other duties. BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw investigates - and he examines growing unease at the way in which those who discharge their weapons are dealt with. Concern has been highlighted by the suspension and arrest of the officer suspected of shooting dead Jermaine Baker in Wood Green in December. Police representatives tell the programme that while they expect their actions to be investigated, people will not come forward to train as firearms officers if they believe they will be treated like a criminal who fires an illegal weapon. The Independent Police Complaints Commission acknowledges that firearms officers work in challenging circumstances but maintains that police shootings resulting in death or serious injury should be independently investigated. So, can the system for holding them to account be improved? Reporter: Danny Shaw Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

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 it helped British and other companies win contracts by corrupting politicians and government officials. The investigation follows a leak of thousands of emails and other documents. Jane Deith has been given access to the leaked papers and reveals what they tell us about the business of oil. Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Paul Grant.

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 wealth. But within the eleven and a half million documents, there is also evidence of how some of the shell companies set up by the firm, or the individuals that owned them, have been the subject of international sanctions and have been used by rogue states and oppressive regimes including North Korea and Syria. Simon Cox reveals details from the leaked papers and travels to the British Virgin Islands where a small office run by Mossack Fonseca was used to create more than 100,000 companies. One of them was a front for a North Korean Bank that was later sanctioned by the United States for supporting the regime's illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programme. According to the US, the BVI based front company managed millions of dollars in transactions in support of North Korea. Other companies set up by on the island were used by a billionaire businessman who is a cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and who was sanctioned by the US for using "intimidation and his close ties to the Assad regime at the expense of ordinary Syrians." Mossack Fonseca has said it never knowingly allowed the use of its companies by individuals with any relationship with North Korea or Syria and says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing. Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: James Melley

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 about 16 players, all of whom have been in the top 50. It also questioned the effectiveness of the sport's watchdog, the Tennis Integrity Unit. Now, in a follow up programme, Simon Cox reveals new allegations of corruption and further evidence of the involvement of gambling syndicates in trying to influence the outcome of matches. Officials from the governing bodies of tennis have already been interviewed by MPs about the findings of the original programme. They have also appointed a prominent London barrister to head an independent review into anti-corruption policies and practices. Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Paul Grant.

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 courts hearing cases. At the same time, appeals are going up and key rulings against Home Office decisions to return people to other countries are also piling on the pressure. With Europe now bracing itself for a fresh wave of refugees fleeing conflict, why is it taking so long and costing so much to decide who should be granted asylum here? Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: David Lewis.

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. SGOs were designed to let children grow up with family, instead of in care - once a relative is granted special guardianship, the council steps backs and the guardian can raise the child without social services interfering. The use of special guardianship orders has been rising-last year more than 3,000 of them were made. But special guardianship breaks down more often - and more quickly - than adoption. And in some cases children have been neglected, abused, or murdered. The family court service Cafcass and the Association of Directors of Children's Services have warned that weak assessments of the risks of family placements are a 'real risk' for children. The government has re-written the law on how special guardians are assessed. But with court deadlines and growing pressure on social workers and budgets, will it make children safer? Jane Deith investigates. Producer: Emma Forde.

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 proactively identify people with early stage dementia.The PM says that an early diagnosis allows families to prepare for the care of a relative, but others argue there's no treatment for such a diagnosis and no robust evidence to justify a process that might lead to harm. Deborah Cohen hears from doctors who are concerned the drive to raise diagnosis rates is leading to people being misdiagnosed. The Government has also pledged millions of pounds to help make England "the best place in the world to undertake research into dementia and other neuro-degenerative diseases". Scientists leading the research say they are making progress to find tests which could identify people at risk from the disease and develop a cure. But other researchers say money is being wasted because current directions in drug development are following the same path as those of the past which have ended in failure. Producer: Paul Grant.

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 Middle East are fuelling intolerance here. Organisations which monitor hate crimes say sectarian violence, while low level, is increasing.One Shia man tells the programme: "It is now becoming quite dangerous. It is an attack on me as a Shia that really scares me." Mahmood reports from one of an increasing number of unity events being staged across the country to foster good relations. A Sunni imam tells her: "These are dangerous times and the religious leadership need to be seen to be doing things to bring communities together." So can such work prevent tensions escalating in the face of the sectarian propaganda that's increasingly available online and on satellite television channels? Producer: Sally Chesworth.

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 rivers running through them and are susceptible to flooding. So how do their defences compare? And, as York and other communities continue to mop up the damage caused by the latest catastrophic flooding, did basic mistakes and a failure of planning make a bad situation very much worse? Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Rob Cave.

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 in helping to combat new pandemics. But, rarely, things do go wrong and people develop serious side-effects. In the UK, the Government's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is supposed to help those left severely disabled as a result. Among those currently arguing their case are the families of children who developed an incurable and devastating sleep disorder after being immunised against swine flu. But, to date, most have received nothing and Ministers have now gone to the Court of Appeal to try and establish a less generous interpretation of the pay-out rules. Lawyers for the families say the whole scheme is outdated and unfit for purpose. Are they right? Jenny Chryss investigates.Reporter: Jenny Chryss Producer: Ruth Evans.

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 Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust successfully bid to run older peoples' health services. But in December the £800m, five year contract ended without warning, with local commissioners saying only that it was "no longer financially sustainable." Jane Deith asks what the failure of the Cambridgeshire contract means for the broader policy of trying to improve NHS services by opening massive contracts to competition between Trusts and the private sector. Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

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 seen confidential documents which reveal how some were linked to gambling syndicates in Russia and Italy which won hundreds of thousands of pounds betting on matches they played in. A number of those who have been repeatedly flagged on fixing lists passed to the game's Tennis Integrity Unit have continued to attract highly suspicious gambling activity. Reporter Simon Cox also has an exclusive interview with one of the most high profile players to be banned for match fixing who says the problem is widespread in the sport. Reporter Simon Cox Producer Paul Grant.

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. He hears claims of dirty tricks by a secretive police unit within Greater Manchester Police which some officers say have led to criminal charges against them. Others say they've been unfairly targeted through the internal disciplinary process, with evidence distorted and statements changed. Are they bad cops with an axe to grind or victims of corrupt practices and institutional cover up?Producers: Sally Chesworth and Neil Morrow.

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 smuggle people across the Channel by gangs based in London and the North West. This unofficial migrant taxi service - run from camps in Calais and Dunkirk - is believed to be netting criminal networks millions of pounds a year. But even that is dwarfed by the money to be made by British criminals bringing migrants over by the lorry load. Jane Deith reveals how the trade is spreading along the coast of Northern Europe, to Belgium and Holland. And she hears from Europol's Chief of Staff about the extent to which criminal networks based in Britain are involved in people smuggling. He tells the programme that more than 800 people have been identified as suspects. Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Paul Grant.

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 ensure they are up to the job? Allan Urry investigates recent cases which raise questions about the quality of care delivered by some temporary staff. Should an agency doctor have better assessed a poorly surgical patient on his ward who died a short time later from a post -operative bleed? The programme also asks how well the agency sector is regulated following the revelation that a partly-qualified doctor was able to treat more than 3000 patients after lying about his qualifications. Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: David Lewis.

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 tracks money going from the UK to projects on the ground in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, trying to find out how much eventually gets to refugees. It's easy to see how funding an NGO to build new homes for Syrians is money well spent. But can the same be said for the hundreds of millions of pounds that go through the United Nations?The programme hears from aid workers, UN officials, refugees and UN investigators about cuts to food rations against a backdrop of high salaries and overheads.So is the UN up to the job of managing a modern-day refugee crisis?Producer: Lucy Proctor.

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 widespread child grooming. Last year the Jay Report estimated that 1400 young people had been sexually abused there. It said most of the victims were white and most of the perpetrators were Asian men. So what's been the impact on community relations and how far has the scandal affected the local economy? For File on 4, Manveen Rana returns to the town to talk to families, business owners and the authorities to find out whether Rotherham can recover. Producer: Sally Chesworth.

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 in this Autumn's spending review.The National Audit Office has warned more than a quarter of further education colleges could be deemed financially inadequate by the end of the year. And this month MPs on the Public Accounts Committee will launch an inquiry into the financial sustainability of the sector.But how far is the crisis also a result of poor planning and excessive borrowing by colleges themselves? A File on 4 investigation finds some institutions taking increasingly desperate measures to make ends meet.And it asks whether the sector is being adequately policed: when a college faces financial collapse, what safety nets are in place?Reporter: Fran Abrams Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

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 financial scam uncovered earlier this year. It involved a web of companies in the ex-Soviet country, with the money thought to have ended up in Russia via Latvian banks.But the trail also goes via a number of UK-registered companies, including one based in the district of north Edinburgh made famous by "Trainspotting", the novel about heroin addicts. It's not the only example of Eastern European fraudsters using the UK to launder their dirty money in this way. So why is it allowed to happen? Why is it so easy to set up an opaque shell company in the UK? And what is the role of so-called company formation agents? Tim Whewell investigatesReporter: Tim Whewell Producer: Simon Maybin.

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 pain control. Pharmacists and doctors say they face a daily battle to get access to a range of medicines and either end up buying alternatives at a greater cost to the health service or using less effective alternatives which can compromise patient care. So is the Government doing enough to ensure essential supplies are available? And has Whitehall's drive to push down the NHS drugs bill deterred some manufacturers from supplying the UK?Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Emma Forde.

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. And he reveals the ways in which both employers and workers are getting round the law. So can the UK Border Force deliver on ministers' promises to make the UK an "unattractive" place for those who want to work illegally?Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: David Lewis.

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 Public Prosecutions and increasing concern about the health of her organisation - the Crown Prosecution Service. Over the past five years the CPS has seen budget cuts of over 25% resulting in job losses and internal reforms. Despite this, the organisation maintains that it continues to improve performance - measured by conviction rates in both magistrates' and Crown Courts.However, there are increasing concerns about staff morale, the quality of decision-making and the standard of advocacy in court . BBC Home Affairs Correspondent, Danny Shaw has been hearing frank testimony from both inside and outside the CPS which presents a revealing picture of the justice system in England and Wales.Presenter: Danny Shaw Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

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 which help supply some of Britain's best known brands.India is one of the largest tea producers in the world with an industry worth billions of pounds - but critics say pickers often have to endure long working hours and insanitary conditions, leading to poor health and high levels of maternal and infant mortality.Producer: Sally Chesworth.

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 Commission, one in 2 cases is overturned. Others - disgruntled with the way they've been treated by the police - sue the force. File on 4 hears from people who've been battling for years to pursue a complaint and who claim the process is unfairly weighted in favour of the police. In the Queen's Speech the Government confirmed its plans to overhaul the complaints system in order to restore public confidence. As part of the reform, Police and Crime Commissioners could be able to decide if they want to handle allegations against their local forces. The Commissioners themselves are divided on whether they want this additional role and critics say they would not have the resources to do it effectively. So just what recourse do you have when you feel you've been dealt with unfairly by the police? And will the Home Office proposals make any difference? Claire Savage investigates. Presenter: Claire Savage Producer: David Lewis.

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 a standstill in Birmingham, to only 10 per cent of trains on time at one of London's busiest stations, even the Chancellor's planned Northern Powerhouse is threatened as line upgrades between Manchester and York are delayed. Allan Urry investigates Network Rail's woes as pressure mounts to deliver £24 billion of infrastructure improvements. Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Rob Cave.