Background independence in a background dependent renormalization group

Within the derivative expansion of conformally reduced gravity, the modified split Ward identities are shown to be compatible with the flow equations if and only if either the anomalous dimension vanishes or the cutoff profile is chosen to have a power-law form. No solutions exist if the Ward identities are incompatible. In the compatible case, a clear reason is found for why Ward identities can still forbid the existence of fixed points; however, for any cutoff profile, a background independent (and parametrization independent) flow equation is uncovered. Finally, expanding in vertices, the combined equations are shown generically to become either overconstrained or highly redundant beyond the six-point level.