EMPLOYERS in the area are being urged to apply for a new mark of excellence to acknowledge their work in tackling equal pay issues.

The Castle Awards, named after Baroness Castle of Blackburn, better known as Barbara Castle who introduced the Equal Pay Act in 1970, was launched on Monday by Minister for Women Barbara Roche.

The new awards form part of the package of Government action to tackle the gender pay gap, as well as enabling women job seekers to search out those employers offering the best equal pay deals.

According to the Office for National Statistics 2001 New Earnings survey, the average difference between men and women's earnings in the South East is 21.9 per cent.

Barbara Castle, who lives in Ibstone, said in support: "Things have improved a lot since I introduced the equal pay legislation back in 1970 when the difference in the average earnings of men and women was 37 per cent. However the current gender pay gap, 18 per cent, is still intolerable.

"Therefore I welcome this move to further tackle the difference. It will hopefully inspire others to address issues of inequality in order to retain the skills of talented individuals."

Elaine Sihera who runs AnSer Publishing in Marlow and author of Managing the Diversity Maze, said: "Anything that is introduced to help to ameliorate the bias in women's pay is welcome.

"However, the best way I believe is to engage every employer in addressing the issue to ensure that women and men are given the same access and opportunities to better pay and conditions."

There will be six winners over three categories, as well as highly commended awards to be announced in October.

Closing date for entries is June 15. More information and application forms are available by logging on to www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/castleawards