
Top stories in the latest issue:
BEHIND THE FACADE
A company doing official reviews on buildings’ external wall and cladding safety used the signature of a surveyor who had apparently never heard of it.
GAS GUZZLERS
Business secretary Alok Sharma is handing big industrial questions over to management consultants whose interests don’t always match those of taxpayers.
SHELL AND HIGH WATER
At the end of a demoralising year for seafarers, Shell suspended crew changes on its ships over Christmas – in contrast to official UK and Dutch policy.
LATE CHARGES
News that another Libyan was to be charged over Lockerbie will have delighted Scottish prosecutors awaiting the outcome of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s appeal.
BROTHERS IN ALMS?
The Barclay brothers’ Ritz Club casino closed last May with £409,551 still tied up in unwon jackpots. So where have the funds ended up?
FAILING GRADERS
Care inspectors are missing cases of abuse in care homes and mental health and hospital units by relying too much on paperwork checks, a new report warns.
CASH DISMISSED
A free school with top-level government connections and close ties to libertarian groups has been pulled up for breaking education funding rules.
SINKING FUNDS
Having lost its legal fight with the UK government, underwater treasure hunting firm OMEx is battling the Mexicans over permits to extract phosphate.
COAL SHOULDER
A planning application to open a new opencast coal mine at Dewley Hill near Newcastle has been thrown out on environmental grounds.
ACCESS DENIED
The Shoreham Airshow inquest is stuck in a legal holding pattern that may mean families will have to wait until 2022 to learn why their loved ones died.
MESSING ABOUT WITH BOATS
The seizure of a man’s boat after a computer error fuels concern about the Canal and River Trust’s attempts to grab powers to remove live-aboard boaters.
BANK DEPOSIT
Government agencies are investigating damage to a protected riverbank carried out by a farmer with bulldozer on a stretch of the River Lugg in Herefordshire.