A prominent campaigner against child sex abuse had slammed an independent public inquiry as flawed and said its report will be “not really worth the paper that it’s written on”.

Former police officer Maggie Oliver was speaking ahead of the publication of the report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse today.

Asked if she was hopeful for change, she said: “What I always say is that I always hope for the best and expect the worst. And my involvement with this was as a core participant in the strand that looked at organised networks, so grooming gangs, and for me it was a massive missed opportunity.

“When you look at grooming gangs and organised networks, it is a problem that affects virtually every town and city in the north of England, whether you think of Rochdale, Rotherham, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Telford all of those towns and cities, not one was included in this strand.

“They picked areas like Bristol, Warwickshire, Tower Hamlets. So, the first question and it wasn’t just me who asked it, it was other core participants, myself and victims have all asked why those places.

“The other thing I would say is that victims’ voices were completely silenced…there were ten days given to it, for what is a national scandal.”

Speaking in an interview with Paul Hawkins and Isabel Webster, she said: “I think it’s not really worth the paper that it’s written on. Millions and millions and millions of pounds – I put my trust in [inquiry chair] Alexis Jay, because she knew what went on in Rotherham.

“But I fear that it has not been independent. The other thing I would say is that there will be recommendations, not legal obligations on the authorities to to respect what they actually come out with.”

Asked why she thought she was ignored, she said: “Because they didn’t want to hear what those who were not involved in these institutions had to say. We all spent two years working with the inquiry. This isn’t just me, it’s people who are working with victims and survivors on the ground and if you block them out of an inquiry, that is all about their experiences for me, it’s not worth the paper that it [the report] is written on.”

Ms Oliver added: “I think the situation in the criminal justice system and in the care system is as shambolic as what is going on in the government today. And I fear for the children trapped in that system.

“Police are in crisis and Greater Manchester Police are in special measures, the Met is in special measures. And again, it’s the same kind of attitude, don’t look at what is really going on, say everything’s fantastic, we’ve got this under control.

“When you’re working on the ground like we are in the Maggie Oliver foundation, you see every day where it is failing. We are trying to work with police forces. We are doing our very best to highlight those cases where victims come to us for help saying they are being let down, that we are making a little bit of progress.

“I think there is an awareness in the country now that it is a mess. But those in positions of power need to listen, need to act and I would just say to any victim or survivor who needs help to come to the Maggie Oliver Foundation, and we will advocate for you legally, we will offer you support and help you put your lives back together in the best way that we can.

“This was just actually, it was a real missed opportunity and it’s a tragedy, really, because as a country, we are facing monumental problems. This was an opportunity to look at this particular failure going on in our country.

“From what I saw, I’m not holding my breath that it will make any difference at all.”