Five men of Pakistani heritage are convicted of sexually abusing teenage girls as young as 12 in Rotherham, south Yorkshire – the first indication of serious failures by the authorities.

Taxi driver Shabir Ahmed, 59, and eight other Asian men are jailed for their role in a child sex ring in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Judge Gerald Clifton told them: "You treated the victims as worthless and beyond respect."

Allegations of widespread child sexual abuse by the BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile begin to emerge, less than 12 months after his death. He is later confirmed as one of the most prolific paedophiles in British history. Scotland Yard sets up Operation Yewtree into allegations connected with Savile and others.

Labour MP Tom Watson claims during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons that there is “clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10”.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk uses parliamentary privilege to claim that Cyril Smith, the late MP, was a “29-stone bully” who sexually abused boys.

Scotland Yard sets up an investigation into allegations of paedophile abuse at Elm Guest House in Barnes, south-west London, which was allegedly used by members of a Westminster child sex abuse ring.

An inquiry into the Rochdale grooming ring identifies "a lack of consistent senior leadership, or a lack of vision and direction in relation to child sexual exploitation” in the council.

Seven men - two of east African origin and five of Pakistani origin - are jailed for life for their part in a sadistic sex abuse ring in Oxford. Six girls, aged at the time between 11 and 15, were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to perform sex acts. Some were beaten and burned.

It emerges that officials cannot find a dossier handed to the Home Office in 1983 by Geoffrey Dickens, the late Conservative MP, which was said to implicate political figures at the heart of national life. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, announces a major inquiry into child sex abuse which will examine churches, the BBC and political parties as well as the wider claims of failures at Westminster and criminal justice system.

Following widespread reports of further failures in Rotherham a report by Professor Alexis Jay, a former chief inspector of social work, finds more than 1,400 children were sexually abused over a 16 year period by gangs of paedophiles. Police and council bosses turned a blind eye for fear of being labelled racist.

Fiona Woolf, the second woman appointed to lead the Government’s child sex abuse inquiry, steps down over her links to former Home Secretary Lord [Leon] Brittan, whose role was expected to come under scrutiny in the investigation.

Lord Brittan dies aged 75. Before his death Lord Brittan had faced several allegations of sexual abuse, and was questioned by police over an alleged historic rape. He was never charged and vigorously denied the allegations.

A further report on Rotherham by Louise Casey finds the local council was “unfit for purpose” and a “culture of covering up uncomfortable truths, silencing whistle-blowers and paying off staff rather than dealing with difficult issues”.