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Boris Johnson is to increase and extend the minimum wage for tens of thousands of poorly paid Londoners to £7.40 an hour, the Guardian has learned.

The mayor will announce the decision on July 28, committing City Hall to paying the "living wage" to all staff employed by the Greater London Authority and related bodies, including Transport for London.

Following pressure from London Citizens, a group of community leaders, faith groups and unions, Johnson is expected to announce that, from next year, organisations funded by the London Development Agency will have to pay the living wage.

Johnson will also disclose that he will open talks with the hotel and hospitality industry - one of the lowest payers in the capital - about implementing the wage for all London hotel workers before the 2012 Olympics.

He was due to unveil the plan next week but the announcement was postponed when one of his deputies, Ray Lewis, was forced to stand down on Friday, following allegations of financial irregularities and inappropriate behaviour.

Johnson will hope the wage increase will help him draw a line under the controversy, but last night the London assembly announced it is launching an investigation into Johnson's appointment of senior advisers and staff.

That follows the departure of Lewis and James McGrath, Johnson's deputy chief of staff who resigned over remarks related to African-Caribbean migrants he made to a journalist. The City Hall inquiry will examine how Johnson picked senior staff, and evaluate if he was properly advised in the process.

Johnson's commitment to extend the minimum wage will be announced at a press conference at the Barclays headquarters in Canary Wharf, east London. The bank has been chosen because it has already negotiated a living wage with contract cleaners in Canary Wharf.

A number of big City banks, including HSBC, Citicorp, and accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG - have followed suit.

Johnson's commitment means, in effect, that he will be continuing a policy begun by his predecessor Ken Livingstone in the face of opposition from the government, which is only committed to a national minimum wage of £5.52.

A number of Labour councils - notably Tower Hamlets, in east London - refuse to pay the living wage to their contract staff and the Department for Work and Pensions refuses to pay the living wage to cleaning staff in the capital.

Johnson's decision will be backed by the south and eastern region of the TUC. He is due to be accompanied at the press conference by the leader of the Tory-controlled Ealing council, Jason Stacey, who has negotiated a living wage for all its dinner ladies. Wages went up by £1 an hour as a result.

"We intend to renegotiate other contracts when they come up. Basically we think it is better that people get a decent basic wage rather than staying on benefit and it is better to pay what amounts to the London minimum wage, because the only alternative will be to top up salaries from benefits," said Stacey.

Neil Jameson, head of London Citizens, said: "If he [Johnson] gives a lead at City Hall we can see this policy cascading down across London with thousands of low-paid workers benefitting."

Unions have long campaigned for workers in London to be paid a living wage, with local branches of the two biggest unions in the country, Unite and Unison, affiliating to London Citizens to push their case.

The decision will also affect a dispute between the RMT union and the tube companies, as their cleaners are demanding a living wage and have already been on strike.