I read this week that offenders in England on community punishments are required to wear high-visibility orange vests, what a great idea. It is called a community Pay Back Scheme, and those offenders on the scheme require to wear the high-visibility vests so that the public is able to see them working. I strongly believe that justice must be done, but it also must be seen to be done. The law-abiding majority must know that the authorities are on our side, whether as victims or witnesses.

The offenders in England must wear a distinctive orange high-visibility vest or jacket with the Community Payback project logo on the front and the words "Community Payback" on the back. The wording has to be in purple and be no less than 30mm high.

In Scotland the police service is currently running with a Restorative Justice Scheme, whereby an offender can buy into apologising to their victims etc. Why not extend the scheme with regards to our own community service orders, those that choose to undertake community service orders do so and are identified by the wearing of high visibility jackets. Those that do not, and there are a large number who are aware that at present there is no punishment for not attending, or not doing the work are dealt with accordingly. These Orders would immediately become a lot more compelling if failure to attend or complete immediately resulted in a prison sentence. It is time for the pendulum to swing back in favour of the decent law abiding majority.