If you are entitled to a refund of pension contributions, you may wish to delay your decision in order to retain your membership in the LGPS.
The contributions will be held within a deferred refund account. The advantage of doing so is if you re-join the LGPS, this membership will then be automatically combined with your new employment.
You can delay your decision until you either re-join the LGPS, join a new pension scheme, or want to take a refund of contributions, however the maximum length of time a deferred refund can be held is 5 years or to age 75, whichever comes first, at which point it will be paid automatically.