Sexual exploitation of children "widespread across England" according to report by MPs In the wake of Professor Alexis Jay's report on the south Yorkshire town, which detailed how up to 1,400 children are believed to have been victims of abuse in Rotherham from 1997 to 2013, eleven MPs from across the political spectrum have authored a preliminary examination into local government decision-making and accountability. Their findings are a damning indictment on Rotherham council - and similar measures councils implement across England. MPs claim that the council was "divorced from reality" and that despite there being "no shortage of plans, procedures or policies," no effort was made to check whether these were effective or even if they had been implemented. The lives of 1,400 young people were ruined by abuse The report also said that the local council and Ofsted had "failed" the victims of the town. In August 2012 the inspection body rated Rotherham's child protection services as "adequate," but speaking to MPs Professor Jay suggested that the Ofsted reports gave local officials a "false reassurance" as the body did not appear to demand any that "direct and sustained improvement take place." READ MORE: Ukip "exploiting grooming scandal" to secure party's first police chief Report: Child sexual exploitation now a 'social norm' in parts of Greater Manchester The South Yorkshire PPC election is a tale of two candidates - and a scandal that divides the voters Rotherham child abuse scandal: Missing files 'fuel public suspicion of a deliberate cover-up," say MPs Another serious failing identified by the report - and also noted in the Jay inquiry - was four years of missing information, mostly meetings between the children, police, health workers and children's social care. The "alarming conclusion" reached by the report was Rotherham "was not an outlier," emphasising "there is a widespread problem of organised child sexual exploitation in England." "In our view the circumstances found within Rotherham Council - policies divorced from reality, single party supremacy and a dominating personality with predominate influence - are likely to be found in other local authorities," the MPs have claimed in the conclusion to the 24-page report. Committee chairman Clive Betts said: "As a committee, we heard alarming evidence that the organised child sexual exploitation at Rotherham is prevalent across England. Rotherham is not an outlier. South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright has resigned over the Rotherham child abuse scandal "It's important to note that it was the press which stimulated action in Rotherham, not the council's own system of challenge or scrutiny, nor external inspections. He added: "Serious questions also need to be asked of Ofsted. Repeated Ofsted inspections in Rotherham failed to lift the lid on the council's shameful inability to tackle child sexual exploitation. As a committee, we will want to question Ofsted about their inspection regime and ask why their inspections were so ineffective in Rotherham. In a statement Ofsted said it welcomed "the opportunity to give evidence to the committee." "In common with a number of organisations, we accept that past inspections may not have given child sexual exploitation the forensic focus it needed and deserved," it said. In the immediate aftermath of the Jay Inquiry, published on 26 August, the council's leader Roger Stone stood down. Despite significant pressure, South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright resisted pressure to resign until 16 September. Finally, on 19 September, Joyce Thacker, head of children's services when the report was published, stood down.