Despite promising improvements to infrastructure policy during this Parliament, they warn the five-year electoral cycle is holding back the vision and investment the country needs.

According to the latest CBI/URS Infrastructure Survey 9 out of 10 business leaders believe an infrastructure commission is urgently needed to separate short-term politics from infrastructure decision-making .

This would halt stop-start investment that has so often stalled progress in the past

The survey of 443 senior business leaders found the majority expected energy and transport infrastructure to worsen in the next five years.

The UK’s infrastructure is now seen as lagging behind most other economies, like Australasia, North America and the EU.

These concerns come despite more than two-thirds of infrastructure providers viewing government policies such as the UK Guarantee Scheme and pro-growth planning reforms as positive developments.

These were endorsed as moves over this parliament that increased the attractiveness of the UK as a place to invest in infrastructure.

But almost all businesses believe political intervention was part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

Ninety-six percent of firms said political uncertainty was discouraging investment and 93% identified political rhetoric as a problem, damaging confidence in markets.

Nine out of 10 business support the creation of an independent infrastructure commission as a means of tackling the problem, as recommended by Sir John Armitt.

The survey also shows high levels of support for bold pledges in election manifestos from all parties to address key barriers to progress on issues like aviation and roads.

Katja Hall, CBI Deputy-Director-General, said: “Progress on infrastructure has been a case of two steps forward and three steps back for far too long.

“While the policy environment has improved, businesses still don’t see upgrades to mission-critical parts of our infrastructure on the ground in practice – and don’t expect to anytime soon.

“Politicians are too often seen as ducking the big, politically difficult questions looming large on businesses’ risk register, like runway capacity and long-term road funding, rather than grasping the nettle,” explained Hall.

“Where hard decisions have been taken on issues like energy, populist political rhetoric threatens to send us backwards.”

She added: “Just recently National Grid warned that spare capacity margins are at the lowest level in seven years, so building up investor confidence couldn’t be more important.

“We’re at a crossroads. The next government must build on the successful policies of this Parliament, but we also need to see bold thinking and a renewal of the politics of infrastructure.”