File on 4

In December last year, the Post Office agreed to pay nearly £60 million in compensation to more than 550 of its workers and former workers, after losing a High Court battle. It was a key victory for Subpostmasters after a 20 year fight for justice. Many hold the Post Office responsible for destroying their lives by falsely accusing them of theft and fraud. Some ended up in prison, others completely bankrupt - and many have been left with their health and reputations in ruins. File on 4 investigates how the Horizon computer system, brought in to Post Office branches in 2000, could have led to accounting shortfalls at branches - and asks why for years the Post Office denied this was possible, instead pursuing its own Subpostmasters for the money, which may have never been missing in the first place. Reporter: Hayley Hassall Producers: Mick Tucker and Nick Wallis Editor: Carl Johnston

For decades sewage sludge from waste treatment works has been used as a fertiliser on agricultural land. But File on 4 hears serious concerns over whether it could pose a risk to human health and whether tougher regulation is needed. The practice is perfectly legal. Treated sewage known as 'sludge' or 'biosolids' provides a rich and cost-effective source of nutrients for soil which is then used to grow crops. The process saves more than three and a half million tonnes of human waste going into landfill or being incinerated. But reporter Claire Bolderson hears from scientists worried about the chemicals, plastics and medicines that could be damaging soil and making their way into the food chain. And she investigates the process of regulating the treatment, storage and use of sludge, amid claims from experts that rules are outdated and oversight lacking. Recycling sewage as fertiliser fits today’s environmental agenda for waste. But do we know enough about what the potential impact of the practice might be in the future? Reporter: Claire Bolderson Producer: Ben Robinson Editor: Carl Johnston

File on 4 has been tracking the roll-out of facial recognition tech across Britain’s streets, shopping centres and football grounds. The Metropolitan Police has announced it will use live facial recognition cameras operationally for the first time on London streets. The force sees the technology as a vital tool in the fight against crime. But privacy campaigners say it's a 'serious threat to civil liberties.' The pace is frenetic – new computer systems can watch thousands of people at once, with the most powerful able to operate at distances of over a mile. They can do all of this in “real-time”, meaning everyone who passes by the camera can be scanned against a “watchlist” of suspects. But technology like this means more and more innocent people are affected. Yet the public are not always explicitly warned, and neither are the regulators. File on 4 has been given new details of a trial at Meadowhall shopping centre in South Yorkshire in which police and retailers worked together to scan millions of shoppers, looking out for three suspects and a missing person (the latter was found as a result). It was one of several trials conducted by police and private companies, which went ahead despite requests from the Surveillance Camera Commissioner for police to ask him before implementing such schemes. The legislation surrounding facial recognition is new and mostly untested, leading to calls for stricter, more specific laws to be passed. Meantime, the Surveillance Camera Commissioner has called for a regime of inspections of the technology for both public and private bodies; a call backed by the veteran Conservative MP David Davis. Facial recognition may be new, but it still begs an urgent answer to an age-old question: who watches the watchers? Reporter: Geoff White Producer: Helen Clifton Editor: Carl Johnston

Few who saw the pictures of the devastating floods which hit the Yorkshire village of Fishlake will forget those images of houses and fields sunk beneath the waters of the River Don. But who knows what life looks like for the residents after the water has receded? Reporter Anna Cavell discovers a village fighting not only to get back into their homes, but also trying to find out what can protect them if the waters return. Delays to insurance claims and businesses struggling to get back to work are some of the everyday tasks facing the village. But with many not expected to return to their homes for many months, will the close knit community of Fishlake village ever recover? Reporter: Anna Cavell Producer: Rob Cave Editor: Carl Johnston

When Sophia was growing up, she had an imaginary friend. It was only later she learned that the little girl she played with in her mind was not imaginary at all, but a distant memory of an older sister. The two had been separated when they were in care, and contact between them was soon lost. It might sound like a Dickensian tale of misery, but it’s not rare for siblings to be forced apart whilst in the UK’s care system. In England alone, there are currently more than 78,000 children living in foster care or children’s homes. Many have brothers and sisters, but keeping them together is difficult. File on 4 hears from the children and young people who have been split up, and hear how it has affected the rest of their lives. When they can’t be placed together, experts agree that robust plans should be put in place to maintain contact between them. So why is it not happening? If one child goes on to be adopted, maintaining contact with their brothers and sisters is far from straight forward. And for the families who do adopt sibling groups, there’s concern that they’re not getting the right help to support those relationships. Some experts argue that keeping siblings together shouldn’t always be the default intervention. For some, placing them apart might be in their best interests but are the views of children always being taken into account when these decisions are being made and is the importance of sibling relationships sometimes being overlooked? Reporter - Paul Kenyon Producer - Emma Forde Editor - Carl Johnston