ITV is facing another investigation after it failed to match its quota for Programmes to be made outside London for two years running. The network is required by the government to spend half its budget on productions made outside the capital. Figures to be revealed by Ofcom today show that it fell well short of that at 44% last year. After being forced to audit and restate 2006 figures, it missed the target that year too, at 46%.

"It is something that Ofcom is taking very seriously and we are looking at what action should be taken," said the watchdog's market research director, James Thickett. "Action could potentially include fines but at the moment we are not in a position to comment on any sanction we might impose." The latest investigation into ITV follows Ofcom's imposition of a record £5.7m fine on the broadcaster this month for "misleading its audience" over years, causing viewers to waste millions on worthless premium-rate calls.

Sources at ITV said last night it would like to see a reassessment of the level and criteria used by Ofcom, particularly given disparities between requirements on ITV and its rivals. The other public-sector broadcasters all met or exceeded their out-of-London targets in the past two years. But their quotas are lower: 30% for the BBC and Channel 4 and 10% for Five.

Programmes must meet two out of three criteria to qualify as out-of-London productions. Ofcom asks whether a production base was outside the M25 motorway, what proportion of spending occurred outside the M25 and how much of the behind-the-camera and on-screen talent are from outside London. In ITV's case, that means that even though shows such as Doc Martin and Kingdom are made in Cornwall and Norfolk respectively they do not count towards the quota because other criteria are not met. ITV insisted it was "committed to a diversity of production". "We recognise that we must comply with these challenging obligations and we will be taking the necessary steps to meet the quota in 2008," said a spokesman.

The company is also on a collision course with unions over production outside London. Broadcasting union Bectu yesterday lambasted ITV's announcement this week that it wants to make 89 staff redundant, with job losses targeted on production centres in Leeds and Manchester. It said that was at odds with ITV executive chairman Michael Grade's pledge under a turnaround plan to increase the levels of in-house production.

"What is clear is that the company's turnaround plan is failing," said Bectu's David Beevers. "The five-year plan promised acquisitions and greater commissioning power to re-establish ITV's network presence. Those objectives are not being met so the company reaches for its most cowardly weapon, the P45." An ITV spokesman said: "Technological advances in production techniques combined with a slowdown in studio commissions means that the level of resources staff in Manchester and Leeds is higher than required for the business levels forecast."

ITV was also attacked yesterday for entering just three religious programmes for the annual Sandford St Martin Trust's awards rewarding excellence in the genre. The Reverend Colin Morris, the chair of the awards judges and a former head of BBC religious broadcasting, speaking at the prize ceremony at Lambeth Palace in London, said he thought it was sad that ITV seemed to have "abandoned religious broadcasting".

ITV put three programmes up for this year's Sandford St Martin Trust awards, out of a total of 43 submissions from broadcasters. BBC2 documentary The Boys from Baghdad High won the trust's award. "I think it is sad that one of our great public service broadcasters seems to have abandoned religious broadcasting," Morris said.

Morris, also the former head of BBC Northern Ireland, added that ITV's stance was a sharp contrast to the rest of television, which "generally has discovered God ... or Allah" – a reference to the number of programmes about Islam – and was making high quality religious output. However, the award judges did pick out for special mention a clip from one ITV documentary, Little Town of Bethlehem, which followed the plight of Jews and Arabs in the town.

Though BBC2 won the main award with The Boys from Baghdad High, a documentary following four teenagers of different religious backgrounds, Morris added that the BBC's submissions generally tended to "be celebratory rather than analytical". He expressed disappointment that none of the BBC's submissions this year had been "in the tradition of Everyman or Heart of the Matter".

Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, who presented the awards, also commented on the entries: "There is a great deal about the body on television, cookery, beauty, exercise, and psycho babble, but very little about the soul." Widdecombe also pointed to the fact that three of the four programmes to win awards were about Islamic themes and society. "I hope next year the winners will come from the Christian religion. There is a creeping embarrassment about Christianity," she said.