The Act Commentary on Sections Part 1: Police Reform Section 8: Community support officers: power to deal with truants
137.This section inserts a new power into the list (set out in Schedule 4 to the 2002 Act) of powers that may be conferred on persons designated as CSOs. If designated with the power set out at new paragraph 4C, CSOs will have the power that constables already have under section 16 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to deal with truants. This power would allow CSOs to remove young people of school age that they believe are absent from school without lawful authority from specified areas and to take them either to their school, or to a place which has been specified by the local authority.