Ministers are facing growing calls for a national inquiry into gang rape in UK towns, after Elon Musk reopened a decades-old scandal.
However the 2022 mandated review set out a plan on how to tackle the issue.
“We have had enough questions, consultations and discussions,” report author Professor Alexis Jay said on Tuesday. “We've explained what action is needed and people need to get on with it.”
What should be done?
Jay's report on child sexual abuse made 20 clear recommendations, with a call for the Conservative government of the day to publish what steps had been taken in six months.
This includes the introduction of a legal requirement for people in certain professions to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the appropriate authorities.
The inquiry also called for the establishment of a national reparation system to provide compensation to victims, and the creation of a Child Protection Authority with the authority to inspect any institution dealing with children.
Many of the proposed changes have not materialized, either because they have not been implemented or because the general election last year stalled the laws being passed in Parliament.
What has happened?
The main proposal was for stronger age verification on internet sites, and the enforcement of online pre-screening of child sexual images.
While the previous government introduced the Internet Safety Bill 2023, which expected social media platforms to enforce age limits and age screening, it did not include pre-screening of sexual images of children and young people. The legislation became the Internet Safety Act, which takes full effect this year.
A key recommendation of the Jay review was that people who work with children face criminal penalties if they fail to report claims of sexual abuse. On Monday, home secretary Yvette Cooper promised that this would appear in the Crime and Policing Bill.
He also said that the government will pass legislation to make corrections the worst part of sentencing for child sex offences.
Downing Street insisted plans were already underway to bring the changes into law before the issue was raised by Musk last week.
“We are working on speed to implement all recommendations,” he said. “These recommendations were made in 2022 and were not implemented by the last government, this government has already started to act on the recommendations.”
What didn't happen?
However, most of the proposals have not yet been submitted. These include a three-year statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse to file injury claims; national victim compensation program; and changes to the Criminal Justice Compensation System.
After the Jay review came out, the previous Conservative government promised to consult on the measures, but did not put them into law.
The report also called for medical support for the victims, which was never implemented.
The expansion of plans that prevent certain people from working with children, and expanding these overseas, has also not been implemented.
Appointing a dedicated minister to the children's cabinet has also been suggested, although the ruling government and the current government have said that the responsibility is already with the education secretary.
What happened after that?
On Wednesday, the Conservative opposition will seek to increase pressure on the government by trying to force a vote in the House of Commons on holding a new inquiry into the gang scandal.
The Tories have made a “sensible amendment” to the Child Welfare and Schools Bill calling for a full national inquiry.
They said Jay's report only examined six specific towns – when gangs had previously been active in more than 40 towns – and accused the government of “obstructing a full national investigation”.
But victims' minister Alex Davies-Jones said Jay had already produced a comprehensive report based on evidence from more than 700 victims.
He added: “If, after those (Jay's) recommendations are implemented, there is more work to be done, we will certainly do that work.”
What about prosecution and conviction?
In 2014, the UK launched Operation Stovewood, described as “the single largest law enforcement investigation into non-family child abuse and exploitation in the UK”.
About 39 people have been convicted, according to the National Crime Agency, and jailed for a total of almost 500 years.
Ten cases have been listed for this year and 2026, and there have been more than forty investigations, according to the NCA. More than 220 people were arrested or went to the police station voluntarily.
Two brothers will be sentenced in Sheffield next week after being convicted last month of raping girls 18 years ago, abusing the young victims with drugs and alcohol before luring them to the places where they attacked them.
In October, three brothers were found guilty of sexually abusing children in Barrow and Leeds between 1996 and 2010. The girls abused by the two brothers were six or seven years old when the abuse began, and lasted for several years, according to the Army. Prosecution Service.
Convictions last year also included that of a former limousine driver who said CPS “systematically trained and abused” young girls in the Rotherham area between 2005 and 2015. sexual offenses against eight girls, who were between the ages of 12 and 17 at the time.