Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF) Update 2026
Skills for Care has published a refreshed Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF) to show what “great leadership” looks like across adult social care — and crucially, to make it practical at every level of the workforce (not just for people with “manager” in their job title).
Read Skills for Care’s announcement
If you’re a provider, commissioner, or people lead, this update matters because it gives you a clearer, shared language for leadership behaviours, a structure for development, and an easier way to evidence “Well-led” practice.
What’s new in the updated LQF
1) A new Management and Leadership Code sits at the heart of the framework
A key change is the inclusion of the new Management and Leadership Code for Health and Social Care, developed by NHS England with Skills for Care and sector partners. It sets out shared values that should guide leadership day-to-day — creating safer, more supportive and ethical environments.
In the updated LQF, this Code is expressed as six core principles:
- Be accountable
- Be collaborative
- Be compassionate
- Be curious
- Be inclusive
- Show integrity
These aren’t fluffy statements — the framework spells out the behaviours that sit underneath each one (for example: transparency when things go wrong, creating psychologically safe teams, challenging bias, using evidence and feedback properly, and staying values-led under pressure).
2) Five clear “dimensions of leadership” to translate values into action
The LQF keeps (and reinforces) five dimensions that describe what leaders actually do in practice:
- Creating the vision
- Setting direction
- Managing services
- Improving services
- Delivering the strategy
Skills for Care’s update also highlights a stronger focus on co-production, equality, and increasing digital confidence across these dimensions.
3) Stronger alignment to the Care Workforce Pathway
The updated framework is aligned to the Care Workforce Pathway and maps what leadership looks like from frontline roles through to strategic leadership. That means you can use it to support progression conversations (and make leadership development feel less mysterious and more “this is what good looks like at my level”).
4) A practical self-assessment tool (so it’s usable, not just readable)
Skills for Care also calls out a self-assessment tool designed to help people identify strengths, pinpoint development needs, and plan growth. This matters because most leadership frameworks fall down at the same hurdle: they describe ideals, but don’t help you turn them into a plan.
Why this matters for providers (and what it helps you evidence)
It supports “Well-led” under CQC’s Single Assessment Framework
The LQF is positioned as useful evidence for CQC registered providers under “Well-led”, because it’s built around core leadership principles and practical behaviours.
It helps you standardise leadership expectations
You can use the LQF:
- as an individual to reflect and develop
- as a line manager to review team performance and support development
- as an organisation to strengthen recruitment, selection and leadership development
Key takeaways (the bits to actually act on)
1) Treat leadership as a workforce capability, not a job title
The refreshed LQF is explicit: leadership runs through the whole workforce — it’s behaviours, actions and influence, not hierarchy.
Do next: build leadership into supervision and appraisal for everyone, not only managers.
2) Use the six principles as your culture “non-negotiables”
The Code’s principles provide a clear baseline for expectations like accountability, inclusion, curiosity/learning, and integrity under pressure.
Do next: turn the six principles into a simple monthly reflection prompt in team meetings (one principle per month, discuss one real example).
3) Co-production is no longer optional — it’s part of “good leadership”
The refreshed update strengthens the emphasis on co-production — involving people with lived experience in shaping services and direction.
Do next: create one standing mechanism for lived-experience input (not just surveys) and track what changed because of it.
4) Digital confidence is now explicitly on the leadership agenda
The update flags an increased emphasis on digital confidence — using digital tools ethically and effectively to improve services.
Do next: identify one operational workflow to digitise or simplify (reporting, rota comms, incident logging, training oversight) and measure the impact.
5) Make the framework “real” by choosing one practice to change
Don’t try to overhaul everything — pick one area of practice and be consistent.
Do next: choose one dimension (e.g., Improving services) and set one measurable behaviour goal for the next 30 days.
How Flourish can help teams put the LQF into practice
If you want to translate the updated LQF into day-to-day leadership capability (without it becoming another PDF that nobody uses), the quickest win is structured learning plus practical reflection.
Two places to start:
- Click Academy: Leadership Programmes - For cohort-based development, workshops, and deeper leadership capability building.
- Leadership online learning (Adult Social Care bundles) - For scalable CPD across managers, deputies, seniors, and aspiring leaders.
Source documents
