File on 4 Investigates Folgen

Europe's Missing MillionsOver 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 that money has been wasted or even stolen. In Southern Italy, money has gone to Mafia-controlled construction companies and bogus energy projects. Across the EU expensive projects lie unused and unfit for purpose, despite receiving funding of millions of Euros.The EU has created its own anti-fraud agency, OLAF, to stop these abuses, but are critics right when they claim it's underfunded and ineffective? File on 4/Bureau of Investigative Journalism co-production. Producer: Gail Champion Editor: David Ross.

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 say they feel their concerns are not being heard. Fran Abrams asks whether the elderly in care homes are being adequately protected.Producer: Paul Grant.

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 peaks times? Overcrowding's got so bad, some are left behind on the platform. Much of the criticism is aimed at the Train Operating Companies, but how much are they to blame? And why does Network Rail, the company responsible for the national infrastructure, soak up the bulk of the 5 billion pounds of taxpayer's subsidy, yet according to its regulator, is 40 per cent less efficient than its EU rivals?Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.