File on 4 BBC Radio 4
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- Sociedade e cultura
Award-winning current affairs documentary series investigating major issues at home and abroad
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No Place to Call Home
As the cost of living crisis continues to increase the strain on families, a record 142,000 children in England are homeless and living in what should be short term temporary accommodation.
Children are being consigned to B&Bs and hotels, former office blocks - even shipping containers – some without a bed of their own, living among rats and cockroaches - conditions the children’s commissioner has condemned as Dickensian.
With the help of young people and their families, File on 4 investigates how temporary accommodation - meant to be a short term safety net - has become a trap some children can’t escape.
Reporter: Jane Deith
Producer: Nicola Dowling
Technical Producer: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Jordan King
Editors: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston
Image: Imgorthand via Getty Images -
Investigating Employee Assistance Programmes
‘Employee Assistance Programmes’ - almost 25 million workers in the UK have access to one through their employer. They’re designed to help people deal with personal problems that might affect their performance at work by offering advice, support or counselling sessions. But are all providers offering a good service? File on 4 investigates.
Reporter: Alys Harte
Producers: Vicky Carter and Ella Rule
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production Coordinators: Jordan King and Tim Fernley
Editors: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston -
The Trouble with Parenting
"Maria" ended up in A and E after being assaulted by her 11-year-old child. There’s nothing unusual about children being rude or sometimes abusive to their parents, particularly when they’re adolescents. But some parents are attacked and abused by their children on a regular basis. It’s a pattern of behaviour that can begin as young as three years old and become unmanageable by teenage years.
Many parents remain silent out of shame and out of fear of the consequences if they seek help, worried that their child may be taken into care or criminalised. So it’s a hidden problem. The issue is now on the government’s agenda with a consultation that’s aiming to find a common definition for the issue. Jo Glanville talks to parents, practitioners and researchers about what happens in families when a child becomes violent, what should be done to support them and what lies behind this kind of behaviour.
Presented and Produced by Jo Glanville
Executive Editor: Bridget Harney
Research: Maia Miller-Lewis
Studio Manager: Jon Calver
Actors: Jayne Ashbourne and Juliet Cowan
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Organisations in the programme offering information or support on child to parent violence:
Family Lives
Parentline family support and bullying helpline | Family Lives
https://www.familylives.org.uk/how-we-can-help/confidential-helpline
CAPA First Response
Capa First Response | You are not alone - Capa First Response
https://capafirstresponse.org/
Talk Listen Change
Young People’s Programmes - TLC: Talk, Listen, Change (talklistenchange.org.uk)
https://talklistenchange.org.uk/project/young-peoples-programmes/
Holes in the Wall
HOLES IN THE WALL | documenting parent abuse
https://holesinthewall.co.uk/ -
A Coal Town Mystery
It’s a scandal that went uncovered for 30 years. Body parts and organs from former workers in the nuclear industry were systematically removed for research. But the families of those former workers were never told. The truth only came to light following a three year inquiry published in 2010. But was this practice contained to one industry, or was this happening on behalf of others too?
News reports around the time of the Sellafield scandal claimed that organs of coal miners were also being routinely removed during post-mortems at the request of the then National Coal Board.
So, was the coal industry involved in a similar scandal - and to what extent? And could the need to advance research and science ever be seen to outweigh the need for permission?
Reporter and producer: Emma Forde
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley
Editor: Clare Fordham -
When Abortion is a Crime
The case of Carla Foster made headlines last year after the mother-of-three was initially sentenced to two years in prison for taking abortion pills after the legal cut-off. Since then, several other women have appeared in English courts accused of having illegal abortions, with increasing numbers of women under police investigation.
Reporter Divya Talwar hears from women who have been investigated on suspicion of procuring illegal abortions, meets one woman who was prosecuted and sentenced, and hears from a journalist who believes the law is proportionate. File on 4 reveals that in some cases, women who have experienced pregnancy loss and premature deliveries are also being investigated on suspicion of having illegal abortions.
There have been growing calls from campaigners and MPs to scrap the Victorian law that criminalises abortion in England and Wales and replace with medical regulation instead - as is the case in Northern Ireland. While some say the law doesn’t need to be changed, others believe urgent reform is required so women involved are treated with compassion instead of being punished.
Reporter: Divya Talwar
Producers: Anna Meisel and Eleanor Layhe
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston
Image Credit: MartinPrescott\Getty -
A Plan to Kill - The Murder of Brianna Ghey
File on 4 tells the story behind the brutal killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey. She was attacked in a park near Warrington in Cheshire on a Saturday afternoon in February 2023. Two teenagers - Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe - who were obsessed with murder and torture, have been convicted of her murder. In the build-up to the killing, they exchanged text messages outlining details of their plan. The girl even wrote a detailed plan of how they would go about the murder which was found by police in her bedroom. File on 4 has discovered how she had been part of a 'managed move' to Brianna's school after she poisoned a younger girl with a cannabis-infused 'gummy' and didn't tell her what was in it. The 13-year-old became very poorly and the police were alerted. The victim's family decided against further action and the matter was referred back to the school. Scarlett Jenkinson was suspended for five days and later transferred to Brianna's school where the two girls became friends. However, before accepting Jenkinson on their register, the school was not given all the details of the incident involving the cannabis sweet. Warrington Borough Council says a child safeguarding review is underway and it will examine all of the issues - including the circumstances surrounding the managed transfer.
Reporter: Katie Barnfield
Producer: Hayley Mortimer
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston