Do you give homeless people cash? Many people fear any donation will be misspent but a ground-breaking study in the UK is currently recruiting 125 homeless people to receive a large one-off cash payment, paid directly to them. There's no restrictions on what they can buy with the money. It can be used for anything, it’s entirely up to the individual how they choose to spend it. The aim of the project is to see if it will help people move on from homelessness for good. With exclusive access to the ongoing study, Michael Buchanan follows some of those who’ve been given the cash to see how the money is being spent and what impact it‘s having on their lives.Reporter: Michael Buchanan
Producers: Emma Forde and Rob Byrne
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
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File on 4 Investigates Folgen
News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.
Folgen von File on 4 Investigates
505 Folgen
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Folge vom 30.12.2025Can cash grants help end homelessness?
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Folge vom 16.12.2025Firefighting's forever chemical legacyIndustrial firefighting foams are an essential part of on-site safety in UK factories. But for decades some of these familiar canisters contained potentially dangerous, toxic chemicals. File on 4 Investigates discovers that 3M the multi-billion dollar chemical company responsible for producing the chemicals knew about the risks as early as the 1960s because their own internal studies on animals and tests on workers indicated a possible increase in rates of cancer. Despite this, the company failed to warn its workers of the dangers associated with using the foams for decades and was involved in an environmental accident at one of its sites that led to the chemicals being released into a Welsh river.The programme obtained never seen before documents showing the regulator warning the company it thought it had committed an offence but choosing not to prosecute it.In 2004, with evidence of the risks to the environment of the two specific forever chemicals PFOS and PFOA, a report commissioned by the government recommended any remaining firefighting foams containing the chemicals be incinerated. But we discover in the years after that companies struggled to dispose of legacy stock of foams, and, appearing unaware of the unofficial advice, discharged them straight into the sewer with no treatment, in one case with permission from the water company.3M said that the health and safety of its workers and their families were “critical priorities" for the company.Reporter: Esme Stallard Producer: Anna Meisel Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Tara McDermott
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Folge vom 09.12.2025An unholy row over bishop accused of bullying.Anne Dyer is a trailblazer - becoming the first female Bishop in the Scottish Episcopal Church when she was appointed more than seven years ago. But since then, accusations of bullying and misconduct have dominated her period in charge - even for a time leading to her suspension and calls for her resignation. Bishop Dyer denies any wrongdoing, while the church itself acknowledges there are deep wounds within the diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney. Now File on 4 Investigates has discovered new complaints against the bishop, which she says are "totally without merit".Reporter: Steve Swann Producer: Fergus Hewison Editor: Tara McDermott Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
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Folge vom 28.11.2025Adoption: The Blame GameFile on 4 Investigates discovers a world of lies and blame within adoption in the UK. The BBC has conducted the most extensive Freedom of Information request ever into adoptions that have broken down, finding that more than 1,000 adopted children in the UK have returned to care in the past five years. That is much higher than the figure in a recent government report - but the true number is likely to be even larger, as only a third of authorities said they collected this data as standard practice. Some adoptive parents say they’ve been given so little support that they’ve been forced to return their children to the care system. This programme explores the scale of the crisis as we hear from parents pushed to the limit, a teenager returned to care and a social worker giving a rare view of the system from the inside.Producer: Ashley Kennedy & Claire Kendall Reporter: Judith Moritz Sound designer: Richard Hannaford Production coordinator: Hattie Valentine Editor: Tara McDermott(Photo: Close-up portrait of couple Verity & Ian standing outdoors. Credit: Brij Patel)Details of advice and support with adoption are available at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline