The requirement for civil servants to “promote” government policy has inevitably led to the perception of partisanship

The civil service is meant to be independent, serving the government of the day as it would a government of any other political persuasion. However, according to Dennis Grube, events since the publication of the 1968 Fulton Committee report (which recommended a more public role for civil servants) show the difficulties in reconciling independence and neutrality with active promotion of often contentious policy decisions.