Austerity is blamed for a “troubling” disparity in incarceration rates that means women in areas of the north are four times more likely to be jailed than those in the home counties.

Campaigners attribute this “north-south divide” to the fact the north has been badly hit by cuts to public spending and legal aid – arguing austerity could ultimately be pushing women into prison.

The report by the Prison Reform Trust found the imprisonment rate in Cleveland in the northeast of England was the highest across England and Wales – with 67 women per 100,000 in the police force area being given an immediate custodial sentence.

South Wales followed with 65 prison terms per 100,000 women, while Cumbria in northwest England’s figure of 50 was the third highest across the two nations.

This marked a sharp contrast to southern counties, such as Sussex, with 15, and Surrey, with 16 per 100,000 – the lowest rates.

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Jenny Earle, who leads the Prison Reform Trust’s programme to reduce women’s imprisonment, called for “decisive action” over what she said amounted to a “postcode lottery” in prison sentences for women.

She said: “We know that poverty and disadvantage effect women in prison. Of course, no women would give that as an excuse for crime. There are patterns of disadvantage at play here. This is something which needs further investigation. It could be linked to legal aid but we have not looked at that.”

Tracey McMahon, who set up a service which houses female ex-prisoners in Lancashire called The SHE Project, said the study’s findings did not surprise her and austerity was at the root of the chasm.

“Austerity has led to cuts to youth services which have contributed to young people ending up in the criminal justice system,” she said. “It is to do with characteristics of the area rather than characteristics of their behaviour.”

Ms McMahon, whose project houses 52 women and primarily works to rehouse mothers separated from their children due to prison, added: “It is linked to social economic factors. Large areas in the north east and north west were former industrial areas. We are now seeing third generation problems because of deindustrialisation in the early ‘80s when mining, steel, manufacturing, fishing, coal and the car industry closed down.

“It is almost like we have swapped manufacturing for poverty, crime and drugs. Our young people are marginalised and forgotten. People up north have financial, social, and health-based inequalities. The study’s findings are also linked to cuts to legal aid which have been more directed at women.”

Analysis by the Prison Reform Trust showed the overall use of imprisonment for women in England and Wales rose by 5 per cent between 2012 and 2017.

Nearly half (19) of the 42 police forces in England and Wales with data saw an overall decline in the number of women imprisoned between 2012 and 2017.

The organisation said this was reflected by some areas working with the police, the courts and the charity sector in order to try and reduce women’s offending. But in the majority of areas (23) the number of women sent to prison continued to rise during the same period.

Sarah Longlands, director of think tank IPPR North, also attributed the study’s findings to austerity.

She said: “There can be very little doubt that support services specifically for vulnerable women have suffered as a result of austerity. Our research shows the north has been disproportionately targeted by austerity.

“Gender pay gap disparity – particularly in low skill sectors – creates a context where women are more likely to offend as a result of struggling to make ends meet. These decisions about the fate of women in the court will be carried out by men. There is a question about how well they are representing communities.”

The north has been hit hardest by public spending cuts since the coalition government launched its austerity programme, while the south has seen an increase in funds, according to an in-depth study by IPPR North from last December.

Total public spending in the north has fallen £6.3bn since 2009/10, more than any other region, the think tank found. The Southeast and Southwest has meanwhile witnessed a £3.2bn rise.

There are just under 4,000 women in prisons in England and Wales, compared with nearly 80,000 men, the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show.

Females represent around 5 per cent of the total prison population – a proportion that has remained steady over the last decade.

The female prison population is highly vulnerable – with charities warning they are often victims of much more serious offences than the ones they have been convicted of.

The vast majority of female offenders are handed short sentences of six months or less for minor crimes, with a quarter imprisoned for under a month. However, the jail sentence can still be profoundly disruptive – causing people to lose their jobs, homes and contact with children.

Factors said to drive women to turn to crime include poverty, drug and alcohol problems, mental health issues and coercive relationships with men. Some 60 per cent of female offenders have experienced domestic abuse, an estimated 24 to 31 per cent have dependent children and those in jail or on probation are more than twice as likely to suffer mental health issues as men.

Almost half of all female prisoners in England and Wales say they committed their offence to support the drug use of someone else, according to Ministry of Justice data, while many more are substance abusers themselves.

A government spokesperson said: “While sentencing is a matter for independent judges, our Female Offender Strategy has set out steps to see more women managed effectively in the community to avoid short custodial sentences.

“We have already invested £5m in community services as part of a multi-agency approach to divert women away from crime and reduce the £15bn cost of reoffending.