5 Live Investigates

Criminals are exploiting weaknesses in the enforcement of speeding penalty points to help motorists evade disqualification. They set up a series of bogus identites which they use to take the points and the police admit it's hit and miss whether the deception is ever discovered.

Also... the head teachers being suspended after being caught up in a computer equipment leasing scam that could cost schools hundreds of thousands of pounds. And the water companies that have failed to hit their leakage targets now struggling to supply Britain's drought-affected areas.

The ailing care home residents who struggle to get a GP to visit - instead medication is prescribed over the phone. In some cases, care homes even pay GPs to provide what's decsribed as 'enhanced' services such as routine check-ups to people with complex medical problems. One nurse manager tells 5 Live Investigates that GPs who charge should be ashamed of themselves - challenging them to ring in and explain why they do it.

As the motor insurance industry roots out bogus whiplash claims, fraudsters have moved in on credit hire - the system that allows motorists involved in a road smash to get a replacement hire car. The criminals submit claims for vehicles that have never been provided or invoice for top of the range vehicles when the model supplied is more basic. The scam is costing the industry £60 million a year.

Plus, a Muslim extremist linked to banned groups in the UK is using his base in London to export extremist preachings to India, and immigration officers who have taken redundancy or early retirement are being brought back to help tackle the growing queues at London's Heathrow Airport.

Adrian Goldberg asks whether it's easier to avoid paying care home fees and get the state to pay in some areas than others. Elderly people in need of residential care receive no financial help from the local authority if their assets, including their homes, are worth more than £23,250. It's led to some estate planners advising families how to hide their assets and get the state to fund care instead. But these families risk legal action from councils if they can prove individuals have deliberately deprived themselves of assets to avoid the cost of care. Adrian Goldberg reveals which local authorities are clamping down on the practice and those which aren't. Plus, the payday loan company that threatened customers it might contact their employer if they didn't settle their debts.

In his first broadcast interview, a former senior investigator with the privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office speaks to Adrian Goldberg and criticises his former employers for not doing more to stamp out malpractice by the media years before the hacking scandal broke. Since last November the Leveson Inquiry has been hearing evidence about media ethics in the wake of the hacking scandal. Much of the media's focus has been on high profile celebrity witnesses and their accounts of their treatment at the hands of the press. But the role of the Information Commissioner's Office that's emerged through evidence to the Inquiry has been largely overlooked. Adrian Goldberg asks why more action wasn't taken when the ICO was investigating links dating back to 2002 between journalists and the private detectives who provided them with illegally obtained private details about celebrities, politicians and ordinary members of the public.

Under the last government, £2.2 billion was spent regenerating areas in the north of England and the Midlands to make them more attractive to new homeowners in what were known as Pathfinder schemes. Eight years into the initiative, the Coalition Government scrapped it because, it was argued, instead of rejuvenating local communities, there had been an obsession with demolition. Adrian Goldberg investigates what's happened to the families stuck between the policies of two governments and left marooned in desolate streets. And he asks why, despite promises against further demolition, yet more taxpayers' money is being spent knocking down homes.

Adrian Goldberg investigates the dark web, a hidden part of the internet where paedophiles, drug dealers and gun smugglers can ply their trade without fear of being identified. Supporters of it say it's played a key role in facilitating free speech for people living under oppressive regimes but critics fear it's being exploited by sophisticated criminal gangs operating under the radar of the authorities.

Adrian Goldberg investigates the millions of pounds local authorities spend every year sending children to and from school in taxis. Rural areas spend disproportionately more on cabs for pupils because of the lack of public transport but should the taxpayer be subsidising the lifestyle choice of some young families? And should councils be paying for taxis for pupils just because they've been excluded from their local schools? Plus: why thousands of patients dispensed counterfeit drugs on the NHS in the largest ever case of its kind have yet to identified or informed.

As Wikipedia takes down its English language website in protest against proposed anti-piracy laws in the US, Adrian Goldberg looks at the implications of the Stop Online Piracy Act for internet users in the UK. Internet giants like Ebay and Google have come out against the proposals arguing that it would stifle freedom of speech but others argue these companies are profiting from the illegal acts of those using their services and should be doing more to monitor their activity. Plus: the shops being occupied by charities so that landlords can avoid paying empty property rates.

How wisely is taxpayers' money being spent on government-backed apprenticeships? This week the programme investigates one scheme set up by ex-Welsh football international Mark Aizlewood which was meant to train teenagers to become sports coaches. The company - Luis Michael Training - was awarded around £6 million by eight further education colleges to deliver the scheme at football clubs up and down the country. Two thousand young people signed up - but no-one got their qualification. Hundreds of trainees have been left out of pocket and the company is now in liquidation. Was the scheme properly scrutinised by the colleges and the government's Skills Funding Agency? We ask who's to blame for the failure and what happened to all the money.

Plus: the dozens of post offices and newsagents which have fallen victim to yet another leasing scam.