EALING Council has pledged to pay all its staff a basic living wage at a minimum rate of £8.55 per hour.

The authority’s 3,700 direct employees will benefit from the commitment to improve working conditions for Londoners. It is also working to get all its contractors to pay their staff this fairer wage when contracts are renewed.

Council leader Julian Bell welcomed the decision, saying: “Ealing Labour is fully committed to the living wage. It is morally right that people who do a full day’s work get a fair wage which allows them to enjoy a decent standard of living.

“Poverty pay is a false economy as it costs us all more through increased in-work benefits. We don’t think it is right that even after working a full time job people are relying on benefits to make ends meet.’’

Ealing is one of 10 Labour councils in London to sign up to the living wage initiative led by party leader Ed Miliband, including: Hounslow, Brent, Islington, Lewisham, Lambeth, Camden, Southwark, Hackney and Enfield.

Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson has increased basic London pay by 25 pence to £8.55 an hour during last week’s London Living Wage Week. City Hall has become the only living wage paying Conservative authority in London.

Dr Onkar Sahota, Labour London assembly member for Ealing and Hillingdon, criticised Mr Johnson for being a ‘hypocrite’ as he pointed out that cleaners working at Transport for London and security staff in the Metropolitan Police are only being paid the national minimum wage - £6.19 per hour for people aged over 21 - both institutions the Mayor is responsible for.

Mr Sahota said: “Adult poverty in inner London affects 34 per cent of people and there are 680,000 adults in London living in in-work poverty. This number has risen by 17 per cent since 2009. So far the Mayor’s living wage campaign has tackled just 1.3 per cent of this problem.”