5 live Investigates

British-Pakistanis are being abducted when they travel to Pakistan, with 22 recorded last year - and police say that's the 'tip of the iceberg'. They are seen as easy and lucrative targets with few perpetrators ever brought to justice. One man taken captive and whose family paid a ransom speaks out. Also, the small firms saying they are being prevented from securing contracts from Government and councils by inflexible and cumbersome rules. And as the Christmas party season starts, why have the Home Office still not supplied drug driving analysers to police despite telling us last year that the devices would be operational by this summer?

The cheap car insurance that's too good to be true, we investigate the fake brokers and hear from a duped victim. Also, the police watchdog - do they have enough powers? And the fraudsters facing prison for the car matching service that never was.

Hundreds of illegal metal scrapyards are feeding the epidemic in metal theft and 5 live Investigates reveals the flaws in enforcement which could shut them down. Also: the councils having to refund over £1m in fines.

Private investigators are still prepared to break the law to access personal information, despite the furore over the hacking scandal at the News of the World. Also the nurses defying their professional code by refusing to speak out about poor care.

Many small businesses are being chased for thousands of pounds for leasing agreements that have been drawn up fraudulently, Adrian Goldberg reveals. And he asks why big banks are pursuing GPs and small traders even when the rogue companies which drew up their leasing deals have gone under, with their salesmen jailed for fraud. Also in the programme: insider insights into the row over UK immigration controls. Plus, the company hoping to change the face of car insurance - so why are so many customers complaining about them?

Are watchdogs tough enough, Adrian Goldberg asks, as the Office of Fair Trading takes steps to shut Yes Loans - 7 years after the BBC first started getting complaints about the business. The OFT is "minded to revoke" the licence of the Cwmbran-based loans broker. Plus, a new report says football clubs could be open to fraud and mis-management; Adrian hears more debate on public and private cord blood banks; and why a second-class stamp could sometimes be your first-class option.

Adrian Goldberg lifts the lid on the curious world of parliamentary lobbying and consultancies. And he asks the question - should Members of Parliament or their researchers be paid by private companies or pressure groups who want to bend their ear? One lobbyist spills the beans on his own efforts to influence people in power, while a former minister admits he wasted his chance to clean up the Commons. Plus, he reveals that Guinness World Records does not recognise the 100-year-old marathon runner, Fauja Singh, because he has not been able to present a birth certificate.

Experts warn homeowners desperate to sell against risky lease option deals. Adrian Goldberg discovers people struggling to sell their home are being approached by investors who want to take a lease option on their property - the would-be sellers agree a price that the investor can buy the house at, at a future date, and the investor agrees to cover the mortgage payments in the meantime, so the owners can move out and move on. It could be a win-win situation, but experts say this is an unregulated area and sellers could end up losing out - and even losing their property. Plus, an insight into how Liam Fox's self-styled special adviser Adam Werritty funded his jet-set lifestyle.

Adrian Goldberg and the team investigate the companies offering to store blood from your baby's umbilical cord, which they say could one day save their life. The programme also investigates the NHS hospitals signing agreements with companies to allow the practice on their premises, despite concerns from the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Plus, the environmental health officer whose job is being paid for by a supermarket.

Trading Standards is taking consultancy payments from a firm which is also the subject of customer complaints. Adrian Goldberg reveals West Yorkshire Trading Standards has received payments from online loans broker, SGE Loans, in exchange for regulatory advice. But some customers claim that SGE Loans has debited their bank accounts without consent - a claim SGE Loans denies. WYTS says such partnerships are necessary because of budget cuts but its integrity remains unaffected. Plus: the landlady of a Portsmouth pub, Karen Murphy, speaks exclusively to 5 live Investigates ahead of a ruling by the European Court of Justice on whether the EU single market means she should be able to use any European satellite service to screen Premier League football. And we hear from the chief executive of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jez Moxey.

Adrian Goldberg reveals the new money earner for the 'squeezed' middle classes: renting out the spare room - to cannabis farmers. He interviews an IT professional making thousands of pounds from the marijuana he grows in his utility room, and a drug dealer from the West Midlands who has a number of middle-class professionals letting their spare room to him for a share of his cannabis-farming profits. Plus, we reveal the high-street shop that's been selling customers a camcorder they didn't want. It says the camera was a better model than the one advertised, but was it really? And we hear the inside story of BBC Newsnight's investigation into international boxing, as well as report on the latest blow to the online poker industry.

Foreign NHS staff with a poor grasp of English are causing confusion, mistakes and bad treatment across the UK, 5 live Investigates reveals. Adrian Goldberg talks to patients and health sector insiders who say that some care workers, dentists and pharmacists – as well as doctors and nurses – cannot properly understand their patients. People arriving from the European Union do not have to pass English language tests to register to work. The General Medical Council, and other healthcare bodies, say this needs to change.

On 5 Live Investigates this week - cyber stalking. A senior police officer us tells the law needs to be strengthened to protect internet users from online harassment, and we reveal the latest tricks used to capture personal information and spy on victims via the web. One man faced a terrifying four year campaign of persecution from an artistic rival who falsely accused him of being a paedophile. Plus - meter madness. More electricity customers have been in touch to tell us how they've been forced to pay for the mistakes made by their energy company. We'll also catching up Britain's new high speed rail link. Are forecasters playing fast - and loose - with the truth? And are MP's more interested in going down the pub than soldiers in Afghanistan. Please note, a change has been made to the original podcast

Deaths and illness from carbon monoxide poisoning are being grossly under-estimated we reveal. A charity that promotes the safety of heating systems says in cases of unexplained deaths, scientists are failing to test for signs of carbon monoxide, by doing so lives could be saved. Is the HSE doing enough? Adrian Goldberg also hears from businesses facing massive bills because their energy companies failed to read the meter properly. One company tells us it is facing closure because it says it can't afford the demand that's dropped through the letterbox. And, some nurses are defying their own professional standards when it comes to administering Botox, because patients are not being given a face-to-face consultation with the doctor, but using what's called 'remote prescribing'.

A coroner has called on the Government to review the safety procedures of companies offering adventure trips. It follows the death of a student on a conservation holiday in Fiji. We investigate how well some companies are implementing safety procedures. We also look at the issue of disability hate crime. Leading charities say many police forces are still failing when it comes to tackling the problem. They say officers have not heeded the lessons of the tragic case of Fiona Pilkington who set fire to herself and her disabled daughter more than three years ago. We talk to a woman with learning disabilities who has endured 20 years of abuse. She's been spat at, assaulted, had chewing gum put in her hair and kids have even got into her home. And following last week's debate about new plans to tackle uninsured drivers, and concerns that new penalties won't be tough enough, the Roads Minister Mike Penning comes onto the show to defend the scheme.