By Gemma Meredith
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City’s deputy pro-chancellor (vice chair) is under investigation by Ofcom for allegedly taking bribes from the Scottish government.

Rob Woodward allegedly had “secret meetings” with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond last year to discuss what has been branded “cash for programmes”.

pic: city.ac.uk

Woodward is the chief executive of STV, the Scottish branch of ITV, which supposedly offered to explore “working for the benefit of the Scottish government”.

Documents obtained by the Scottish Sunday Express under the Freedom of Information Act show that they had an “interesting and productive dialogue” at a meeting at STV headquarters last year.

Ofcom is now investigating STV as part of its standards and complaints procedure. An Ofcom spokesman said the exchange raised “enough issues to merit an investigation,” but added that this did not necessarily imply guilt.

The regulator could claim back five per cent of advertising revenue if STV is found to have broken its rules on editorial independence. An STV spokesman said: “These allegations are baseless and inaccurate. STV is impartial and maintains a close engagement with all political parties.”

STV’s financial problems have been well documented. They reported a 55 per cent decline in profits for 2009 and Woodward was forced to take a 40 per cent pay cut.

As the deputy pro-chancellor, Woodward is the third most senior member of the university council, which is responsible for finance amongst other  functions.