County's deputy police commissioner confirmed

From left to right: Deputy PCC Sara Jayne Munton, Chief Constable Paul Gibson and PCC Marc Jones

A former teaching assistant has been confirmed as the first female Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire.

Sara Jayne Munton, 36, who was selected by Conservative PCC Marc Jones, will replace Phillip Clark, who resigned in March following an altercation in a pub.

On Friday, she appeared before Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel to answer questions about her priorities and experience.

The panel unanimously decided to endorse Mrs Munton as the new Deputy PCC, with a salary of £48,500 per year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Before becoming Deputy PCC, Mrs Munton worked as an apprentice teaching assistant at Lincoln’s St. Christopher’s special school before moving to Grantham, where she worked in a mainstream school.

Speaking at the meeting Mrs Munton said: “I didn’t know this would be an opportunity I was able to do," but cited her experience in policing, education and partnership management as supporting her ability to carry out the role.

She also said she had experience in "holding people to account and exploring excellent ideas" which she said would help "improve outcomes for the people of Lincolnshire".

Engaging the community

She went on to highlight her work with Police Now and her role as the Independent Chair for the Violence Against Women and Girls Voices group.

Mrs Munton said addressing violence against women and girls and engaging with young people were two key projects she was eager to start working on.

The Deputy PCC also addressed the residents of Lincolnshire, saying she looks forward to working with various communities across the county in her role.

She said: “If a community feels they are not represented in decision-making, we want to engage with those people, even if it’s a community we’re not aware of. Approach us.”

PCC Marc Jones said he had a "high level of confidence" in Mrs Munton's ability to carry out the role

Mr Jones later explained why he felt Mrs Munton was the best person for the job, noting that she had consistently demonstrated her ability to make important strategic decisions throughout her career.

He said a deputy "isn’t just an employee in the team" but is "somebody that can walk into a room and they can take that role of commissioner".

He added: "That is not a small thing to ask anybody to do."