Young people eat in groups in all secure training centres and in those secure children’s homes in which the Youth Justice Board places young people. In under-18 young offender institutions, practice varies between establishments. Only one establishment, the Josephine Butler Unit at Downview, reports that no meals are eaten communally.
A nutritionist is employed at Huntercombe young offender institution. Secure training centres and secure children’s homes do not directly employ nutritionists. However, nutritionists’ services are accessed, via establishments’ healthcare provision, to assist the needs of individual trainees and to obtain general advice and guidance.