Victims of historic child abuse have urged deputy first minister John Swinney to extend the remit of a troubled inquiry, but fear the Government is set to ignore their pleas.

At a series of meetings with three groups representing abuse survivors, Mr Swinney said there were arguments against extending the reach of the inquiry, which is headed by a judge, Lady Smith, after Susan Boyd QC quit earlier this year.

These included expense, the length of time the inquiry might take, and the fact that little new will be learned from increasing the ground the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will cover.

However most victims feel there is a fundamental unfairness about the inquiry's remit, which will cover abuses suffered by children who were in state care, but not, for instance, those abused in religious settings in the community.

Alan Draper, spokesman for In Care Abuse Survivors (Incas) said: "we feel the current remit excludes large numbers of survivors who were abused and we put forward a powerful argument about extending it.

"But I am not hopeful, because Mr Swinney seemed preoccupied by the fact that he might be criticised, or it might take another year.

"It is not about what will be learned or how long it takes. This has consequences for each and every victim. If he doesn't extend the remit, it will be not just disappointing but devastating for most survivors."

Mr Draper said victims of abuse were also waiting to see if changes to the law to eliminate a time bar which prevents many of them from seeking legal redress will be included in the Scottish Government's legislative plans.

Andi Lavery, of the group White Flowers Alba, which represents many victims of abuse within the Catholic Church, said members had welcomed the chance to tell Mr Swinney about their cases and the problems childhood abuse was still causing them on a daily basis. However he added: "Thee question is will he do anything to address our concerns? I feel like we are banging our heads against a brick wall."

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the meetings with survivors and their representatives had been constructive.

He added: "We talked about outstanding issues in connection with the statutory public Inquiry and the roll-out of a new national survivor support service to give essential help and assistance to those who in the past were abused by the very people they should have been able to trust.

“As we work to ensure that survivors across the country get improved support and easier access to justice, it is important to Ministers to continue liaising with them and to hear directly from them," he said.

“I am grateful to the many survivors who have taken part in meetings, who have written in, or who have engaged in the consultations we held in recent years to ensure we get the right approach to supporting them and removing the barriers they face.”