The traditional role of civil servants is to provide advice to ministers, regardless of which party is in power. The Head of the Home Civil Service, Sir Robert Armstrong, wrote a memorandum in 1986 which outlined the role that civil servants should play. It states that, 'the determination of policy is the responsibility of the minister. It is the duty of the civil servant...to give the minister honest and impartial advice, without fear or favour, and whether the advice accords with the ministers view or not.' He also mentions that the civil servant has a duty to carry out a decision with the same energy and goodwill as a minister would when taking a decision. They must pursue the decision made whether they agree with it or not.

Sometimes, if a civil servant has a fundamental disagreement with a particular policy or system of their government department, they can find themselves with no option but to resign.