Standing Committee members are the official 'Officers' of the church, 

It is in effect a "mini-me" version of the PCC; it allows the church to carry on official business without the bureaucracy of having a PCC meeting every month.

All meetings are transparent in that all PCC members receive the agenda (so everyone knows what will be discussed), are able to send in comments (so they know their 'voice' can be heard) and receive minutes (so they know what went on and what was decided).

The Standing Committee has the authority to make decisions on behalf of the PCC, but will only make 'important' decisions with the acknowledgement of PCC.   If PCC members feel a particular issue should only be decided at a full meeting then there is opportunity for such feelings to be made clear as agendas (with notes) are sent out in plenty of time.  What is an 'important' issue? Well of course they're all important! but we take things on a case by case basis using common sense, and working by consensus.