The meeting will bring together public services with a responsibility for community safety and cohesion, as well as representatives from local diverse groups.
It will look at how each organisation is working to raise awareness of hate crime and how to report it, their plans to reduce community tensions and educate residents.
Participants will also consider the experience of hate crime victims, including the support available after reporting and the outcomes secured by the criminal justice system.
Hate crime is defined as any crime in which the suspect demonstrates, or is motivated by, hostility based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
As part of Hate Crime Awareness Week, Matt has called together a workshop for key stakeholders to determine what the group will seek to achieve.
He recently conducted a consultation on his draft Police and Crime Plan, in which tackling hate crime and improving community cohesion will play a central part.
This will include ensuring Cleveland Police and agencies in the wider criminal justice system recruit from diverse communities, to ensure they represent the communities they serve.
Matt said: “Since I first became interested in politics and campaigning, I’ve stood against discrimination in all its forms. Now as PCC, I have the chance to ensure agencies are working together to tackle hate crime.
“These issues were always going to be on my agenda, but following the disorder in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool this summer, it has become a more important discussion than ever.
“Everyone has the right to live as they are, free from the fear of violence or harm. I’m confident this partnership will allow voices from all groups to be heard and give public services the opportunity to join up their approach to ending hate in Cleveland.”
Data released by the Home Office last week shows there were 1,508 recorded hate crimes in Cleveland in the year to March 2024. In 1,130 of these crimes, race was a motivating factor.
Nationally, recorded hate crime dropped by 5 per cent in the 12 months to March 2024, although there was a 25 per cent increase in religious hate crime over the same period.
