The Report

Why are plans to reform the NHS in England so controversial? Simon Cox investigates the tortuous path of the Health and Social Care Bill and asks how the proposed changes may work.

As some of England's 200 weakest primary schools fight Government plans to force them to become sponsored Academies, Simon Cox reports on Michael Gove's drive to improve children's achievement.

Poorly performing primary schools in England are being required to become sponsored Academies - independent of local authorities and in control of their own budgets. Some schools are contesting the figures used to class them as failing, claiming that improvements are being made and that becoming an academy is not the only way forward. Several are refusing to convert without a fight. The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, recently branded those opposing his plans at one school in North London as the "enemies of promise" and part of a "Trot campaign".

However, over sixty schools in England approached by Department of Education and are in the process of finding a sponsor and preparing to move out of local authority control. One of those tells The Report that the school was coerced and that she felt bullied.

The names of the 200 English schools being targeted have not been released - the Government says it doesn't want to name and shame, but indicated about ten local authorities were involved. However, The Report has contacted all councils in England and indentified over 170 schools in over 50 local authorities.

Critics are concerned that this mandatory and radical shift may not benefit children's education. Only a handful of primary schools currently operate as academies but the Government maintains that evidence of their success raising standards at secondary level will transfer to younger children. Simon Cox examines the figures behind an increasingly fractious fight.

Producer: Samantha Fenwick.

Battling Boardroom Pay

The boss of RBS, Stephen Hester eventually succumbed to political pressure to waive his bonus at the taxpayer backed bank, as has Network Rail chief executive Sir David Higgins. But will the proposals from Business Secretary Vince Cable to curb excessive pay packages in Britain's boardrooms and bring in a fairer system really work?

Max Flint examines why generous increases have been awarded to CEOs even when company performance has been poor. Former Thomas Cook boss failed to stop the business share price falling through the floor, but was richly rewarded.

The Report explores how City pay is continually ratcheted up, signed off by a network of former executives sitting on remuneration committees - often unwilling to rock the corporate boat. The Government is promising shareholders the power to veto pay increases, giving them the responsibility to reduce inequality, but how often will it be in their interests to act?

Max Flint asks whether the Prime Minister can deliver on his promise to get tough on boardroom pay.

Producer: Rob Cave.

At least 17 people died when the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio on 13 January. Simon Cox investigates exactly what happened and asks whether warning signs about cruise ship safety should have been acted on sooner.

The drug Khat, mainly used by East Africans, is illegal in many western countries and has recently been outlawed by the Dutch, famed for their liberal approach to drugs. Yet it remains legal in the UK. The Report asks why Britain is out of step, and what impact this will have. How harmful is the drug to users and society? Will the UK become the centre of unlawful distribution of the drug throughout Europe? And is the Khat trade funding terrorism? Lucy Ash investigates.

As the NHS prepares to deal with the 3,000 women it treated with PIP implants, Simon Cox asks what will happen to the many more thousands of women who had their surgery in private clinics. How did this faulty product come to be so widely used by the big cosmetic surgery companies, and who will ultimately foot the bill?

Despite repeated warnings to the government regulator, French company Poly Implant Prothese was allowed to sell its cheap breast implants filled with industrial-grade silicone to women in the UK for a decade.

Big companies like Transform and Harley Medical Group now have thousands of former patients demanding that they take the government's lead and remove or replace their implants for free. But thousands more paid companies which have gone bust. Women now battling to get their potentially dangerous implants removed recount their ordeal since finding out they paid for implants filled with silicone never designed for use in people.

Surgeons involved in the urgent review called by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley tell of the days that followed the French government's announcement that it would pay for all PIP implants to be removed. And those involved in the drive to train and educate cosmetic surgeons properly call for government support for ideas that could stop a repeat of this very expensive scandal.

Adrian Goldberg investigates alleged malpractice in the UK's multi-billion pound leasing industry, in both the private and the public sector. He hears from people who signed up to leasing contracts and have lost six figure sums, seen their businesses close, and been forced into bankruptcy. And beyond the stories of personal anguish, he looks into the role of some of Britain's major banks and finance houses involved in leasing and asks if it's time for a radical overhaul in the way the leasing industry is regulated.

Metal theft has reached epidemic proportions, not just in the UK but across the world, driven by a huge demand in countries like China.

Andrew Hosken explores how stolen scrap is 'laundered' into the legitimate system, visiting Walsall in the West Midlands where the 'Tatters' have been rag and bone men for generations. The tradition of cash based exchange means sellers of stolen scrap are virtually impossible to track down.

It's now emerging that more sophisticated criminals are involved in large scale theft and moving scrap around the country. Local authorities feel powerless in the face of weak legislation, but the legitimate industry calls for better enforcement.

As forecasts predict that demand for metal will mean that prices continue to rise, we ask why the authorities seem unable to control the theft. The Home Office Minister, Lord Henley tells The Report that although better record keeping will help, the Government is promising to crack down on the cash economy.

Producer: Rob Cave.

Relations between Iran and Britain are at a low ebb. The British Embassy in Tehran was attacked in November and now Iranian diplomats have been expelled from the UK. But Iran does not just rely on its embassy to influence people in Britain.

In The Report this week Linda Pressly looks into the satellite TV channel Press TV, funded by the Iranian state and edited from Tehran. Press TV has come under fire in recent weeks after it aired the forced confession of Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari and critics now want to see it closed down. The Foreign Office has sought ways to curtail the channel's activities and Ofcom is forcing the broadcaster to move its licence to Tehran by the start of the New Year.

Present and former Press TV journalists tell the story of the channel's creation in 2007 and explain how it has sought to provide an alternative view of the news with prominent presenters like Yvonne Ridley and George Galloway. Human rights activists explain why they continue to complain to Ofcom about the airing of suspected forced confessions; freelancer Jody Sabral recounts how the channel's coverage of the Syrian uprisings lead to her resignation earlier this year.

Many Iranian dissidents and activists see Press TV as part of a wider network of religious, cultural and educational organisations funded by the government. The Report asks what the Iranian government hopes to achieve through these centres and what role they will play with the official embassy closed.

Producer: Lucy Proctor

The number of clinical trials being conducted in the UK has fallen sharply to 2% of the global figure. The government wants to turn this around by cutting bureaucracy and reducing the time it takes to get trials up and running. In The Report, Simon Cox investigates whether the changes being proposed can make a significant difference and resurrect Britain's role as the place to conduct cutting edge medical research.