File on 4 Investigates

David Cameron has promised three million new apprenticeships by 2020. But Further Education colleges must deliver them against a background of year-on-year cuts - with the axe likely to fall again in this Autumn's spending review.

The National Audit Office has warned more than a quarter of further education colleges could be deemed financially inadequate by the end of the year. And this month MPs on the Public Accounts Committee will launch an inquiry into the financial sustainability of the sector.

But how far is the crisis also a result of poor planning and excessive borrowing by colleges themselves? A File on 4 investigation finds some institutions taking increasingly desperate measures to make ends meet.

And it asks whether the sector is being adequately policed: when a college faces financial collapse, what safety nets are in place?

Reporter: Fran Abrams Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

What does the theft of a billion dollars from Europe's poorest country have to do with a run-down housing estate in Edinburgh? Moldova was robbed of 12% of its GDP by the bafflingly complex financial scam uncovered earlier this year. It involved a web of companies in the ex-Soviet country, with the money thought to have ended up in Russia via Latvian banks.

But the trail also goes via a number of UK-registered companies, including one based in the district of north Edinburgh made famous by "Trainspotting", the novel about heroin addicts. It's not the only example of Eastern European fraudsters using the UK to launder their dirty money in this way. So why is it allowed to happen? Why is it so easy to set up an opaque shell company in the UK? And what is the role of so-called company formation agents? Tim Whewell investigates

Reporter: Tim Whewell Producer: Simon Maybin.

Why is the NHS struggling to get hold of some life-saving medicines for its patients? Allan Urry reveals serious concern over the availability of some drugs used in the treatment of cancer and for pain control. Pharmacists and doctors say they face a daily battle to get access to a range of medicines and either end up buying alternatives at a greater cost to the health service or using less effective alternatives which can compromise patient care. So is the Government doing enough to ensure essential supplies are available? And has Whitehall's drive to push down the NHS drugs bill deterred some manufacturers from supplying the UK?

Reporter: Allan Urry Producer: Emma Forde.

With the Government cracking down on migrants working illegally, Simon Cox investigates Britain's shadow economy. He meets illegal workers to ask whether the get-tough message is putting them off. And he reveals the ways in which both employers and workers are getting round the law. So can the UK Border Force deliver on ministers' promises to make the UK an "unattractive" place for those who want to work illegally?

Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: David Lewis.

Controversial charging decisions in the cases of Lord Janner, Operation Elveden and a doctor accused of female genital mutilation have brought a hostile reaction in the media to the Director of Public Prosecutions and increasing concern about the health of her organisation - the Crown Prosecution Service.

Over the past five years the CPS has seen budget cuts of over 25% resulting in job losses and internal reforms. Despite this, the organisation maintains that it continues to improve performance - measured by conviction rates in both magistrates' and Crown Courts.

However, there are increasing concerns about staff morale, the quality of decision-making and the standard of advocacy in court . BBC Home Affairs Correspondent, Danny Shaw has been hearing frank testimony from both inside and outside the CPS which presents a revealing picture of the justice system in England and Wales.

Presenter: Danny Shaw Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.

Tea is still the UK's favourite drink - but what's the human cost of a cuppa?

In the first of a new series of File on 4, Jane Deith reports from Assam on the plight of workers on tea plantations which help supply some of Britain's best known brands.

India is one of the largest tea producers in the world with an industry worth billions of pounds - but critics say pickers often have to endure long working hours and insanitary conditions, leading to poor health and high levels of maternal and infant mortality.

Producer: Sally Chesworth.

Complaints against the police are running at a record high. The vast majority, nine out of ten, are rejected from the start. But when complainants appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, one in 2 cases is overturned. Others - disgruntled with the way they've been treated by the police - sue the force. File on 4 hears from people who've been battling for years to pursue a complaint and who claim the process is unfairly weighted in favour of the police.

Works behind schedule; costs going up; an inquiry into poor performance announced by the industry regulator. It's a depressingly familiar story on our railways. From brand new station escalators at a standstill in Birmingham, to only 10 per cent of trains on time at one of London's busiest stations, even the Chancellor's planned Northern Powerhouse is threatened as line upgrades between Manchester and York are delayed.

The UK's £12 billion pound foreign aid budget is one of the few areas of Government spending protected from cuts. The commitment to spend 0.7% of Britain's gross national income on aid means at least 60 billion pounds will be spent on overseas development in the next five years. Many of these projects are delivered by large companies that receive tens of millions of pounds from DFID (the Department for International Development). They can charge over a thousand pounds a day for a consultant and their directors earn six figure salaries but how effective are they are and the programmes they are paid to deliver? Simon Cox investigates the UK's aid industry and asks how taxpayers can know that they're getting value for money.

Sixty thousand people have crossed the Mediterranean and made it to Europe so far this year.

Frontex, the EU border agency, warns that between 500,000 and 1 million people - Eritreans, Syrians, Afghans, Somalis - could be waiting to leave the shores of Libya for Italy.

Its latest report says resources are being devoted to migrants' care but not towards screening and collecting basic information such as their nationality - which means many are quickly moving on to countries like the UK. According to the report, 'this puts the EU internal security at risk'.

There are also fears terrorists belonging to the so-called Islamic State could secrete themselves among the migrants.

So how easy is it for people to avoid security checks as they journey across the EU?

European countries are supposed to stop illegal migrants and enter their fingerprints and details on a central database. EU rules state that the country where people are first fingerprinted must look after them and consider their asylum applications.

This means many migrants set on coming to this country try to stay under the radar in Italy and France, hoping to reach the UK without being processed.

Jane Deith follows the routes used by some of those headed for Britain.

She also investigates the smugglers who help them - from individuals using their own cars, to organized crime gangs offering money back guarantees on a new life in the UK.

Is Europe losing the battle for control?

Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Paul Grant.