File on 4 Folgen

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 continuing patchwork of local forces. The Westminster government sees the Commissioners as signs of its commitment to 'localism'. But seven years ago, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of police said the fragmented network of local forces was 'not fit for purpose'. So, given the cuts the police are facing, is it time for a radical re-organisation south of the border? Gerry Northam investigates. Producer: Nicola Dowling.

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's general agreement that experience to date shows outsourcing can work, and can save the taxpayer money. But with complex services in education, health or transport, the picture is far less clear. Michael Robinson investigates the outsourcing of these complex public services and uncovers another, as yet unreported, example of huge profits being earned by major private companies at taxpayers' expense. Producer: Rob Cave.

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 Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.