The grandly titled National Infrastructure Plan Strategic Engagement Forum – NIPSEF for short- will advise and monitor progress on the delivery of the country’s infrastructure needs.

Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander revealed the plan to set up the advisory forum last night at the Liberal Democrat party conference in Brighton.

He will co-chair the group alongside Dr Nelson Ogunshakin, chief executive of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering.

Ogunshakin  said: “The National Infrastructure Plan is the government’s most important strategic programme to deliver infrastructure, the core driver to UK economic growth.

“Delivering such an ambitious programme of infrastructure expansion on this scale means bringing government and industry together to successfully achieve this goal.

“This new National Infrastructure Plan Strategic Engagement Forum will place the expertise of industry at the heart of government to make that happen.”

The industry chair will rotate among the senior stakeholder membership of the Infrastructure Alliance.

This brings together four leading trade bodies – the Association for Consultancy and Engineering, the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, the Construction Products Association and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

The Alliance works in close partnership with CITBConstructionSkills, the sector skills council for the industry.

Future co-chair of the forum Nick Baveystock, director general of the Institution of Civil Engineers, said: “Establishing the UK’s first ever National Infrastructure Plan was a victory in itself, but the challenge now lies in actually delivering it.

“Providing potential investors with confidence that the plan is progressing, and quickly identifying and resolving problems will be central to achieving that.”