Living wage for public servants moves a step closer

The campaign to pay a "living wage" to all public sector workers gained momentum as two more government departments indicated that they hoped to introduce it.

At the same time, a cleaner who was moved from the office of the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, for asking for enough to live on was on the verge of being offered his job back.

Support for the policy to be applied in the private sector is reflected in an Opinium/Observer poll which shows that a clear majority of those questioned would be prepared to pay more for goods if they knew the companies that produced them paid the living wage of £7.45 an hour, rising to £8.55 in London.

On Thursday, Telereal Trillium, a supplier of cleaners to the Department for Work and Pensions, said that it would pay the living wage to its 500 Whitehall employees from April 2014, an increase of more than £2 an hour.

Although all three main political parties support raising the pay of low earners, the DWP is the only central government department to announce that it will actually introduce the living wage. However, the Observer has learned that the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Justice might soon follow suit. An MoJ spokesperson said: "Where possible, we will be encouraging the payment of the living wage when agreeing future contracts, subject to this being the best value for money for the taxpayer."

Meanwhile, Valdemar Ventura, who was transferred from Clegg's office – much to the Liberal Democrat leader's dismay – after joining the campaign for a living wage, heard on Friday that he will be reinstated to his Cabinet Office cleaning post, subject to formalities and that he agrees to abide by security regulations. Ventura was transferred from the job after leaving a polite note on Clegg's desk urging action on the living wage. The Lib Dem leader subsequently wrote to the boss of the cleaning company employing him, to urge that he be allowed to return to his duties.

On Thursday, Citizens UK, a group which is heading the living wage campaign, along with community organisers, faith leaders and Ventura himself delivered a letter to David Cameron at the Cabinet Office, congratulating "the Conservative-led departments in government who are now moving towards the living wage" and seeking support for the reinstatement of Ventura.

The letter continued: "As government joins the growing living wage movement it will help us in Citizens UK to encourage others, reducing the working tax credit bill by shifting some of the responsibility to the employer. As you [Cameron] said in 2010, 'Where government leads, others will follow'. We look forward to working with you and others to see the living wage become the norm in Whitehall."

While Cameron himself has made few references to the living wage since 2010, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: "We support the idea of a living wage and we encourage businesses to take it up."

Stefan Baskerville, Citizens UK's Westminster organiser, said: "Citizens UK worked for three years with Whitehall cleaners to build up a group of brave working people who together have convinced Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for work and pensions, of the value of the living wage. We congratulate him for meeting his cleaners and doing the right thing. We expect other cabinet ministers to find the time to meet their cleaners."

Sunday's Opinium/Observer poll asked people if they would be prepared to pay slightly more for goods and services if they knew that the companies they bought from paid their staff the living wage. A total of 47% of respondents said that they would probably or definitely be prepared to pay more, against 37% who said that they would probably or definitely not be prepared to, while 16% said they did not know.

Among likely voters for the three main parties, Lib Dem voters were most in favour – 57% said they would be inclined to pay more – with 26% saying that they would not be prepared to pay more for such goods.

Among likely Labour voters, 53% were inclined to pay more and 33% were not. Among likely Conservative voters, 48% were inclined to pay more and 41% were not.