CHANNEL 4 LAUNCHES INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM TRAINING SCHEME
Firecrest is excited to be part of Channel 4's new investigative journalism training scheme. It is a unique opportunity for journalists and producers from a variety of backgrounds; there is no other scheme like this in current affairs. Channel 4 is offering ten places of bespoke training this year in London, Manchester and Glasgow. The placements are with ITN, October Films, Blakeway, Nine Lives, Matchlight and Firecrest Films. The closing date is 17th February 2012 and the scheme will run from April 2012 onwards. You can find out more information and apply at the Channel 4 website.
SOARING BENEFITS APPEALS STORY PICKED UP BY THE TIMES AS FRONT PAGE LEAD
28 November 2011 A week after our film revealing the rocketing number of welfare benefits appeals was broadcast on Channel 4 News, The Times ran a follow-up story on their front page. We revealed how appeals for Employment and Support Allowance were set to quadruple in two years, and that tribunals had begun sitting on Saturdays to cope with the backlog. Claimants were being caught in a revolving door which was causing chaos. The Times report looks in to this further and reports on how many new judges have had to be recruited to cope with the deluge.
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT DEMANDS END TO NUCLEAR SAFETY EXEMPTIONS AT FASLANE
Following our film revealing radioactive leaks and lax nuclear safety at Faslane, the naval base near Glasgow where Britain's Trident nuclear weapons are based, the Scottish Government has announced it will write to the Westminster Government to demand that the current exemption from nuclear safety laws be ended. Military bases like Faslane do not have to comply with the 1993 Radioactive Substances Act, meaning that bodies like the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency have no legal powers to enforce radioactive safety. In an interview in our film, SEPA admitted that if they had had these powers, they would have closed Faslane down.
OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING INQUIRY INTO PRIVATE RETIREMENT HOME
Two days after the Firecrest Films investigation in to complaints of overcharging by pensioners in private retirement homes, the OFT announced details of their inquiry into the levying of transfer fees in the sector. Our report revealed that the biggest landlord in private retirement housing, the Tchenguiz Family Trust, run by billionaire property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz, had made more than £1.6m by charging transfer fees in just one year alone.
FASLANE INVESTIGATION TRIGGERS HOUSE OF COMMONS EARLY DAY MOTION
More than thirty MPs have signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion expressing their alarm at the revelations of radioactive leaks at Faslane, and calling for improved safety standards at HMNB Clyde, following the Firecrest Films investigation..
