The amount of retail business floorspace built across England's local authorities fell by 14% in 2006, according to the CLG. A study by the department, published on 21 November, found that English councils gave planning permission enabling 1.2m sq m of retail space to be built in 2006. It was published on the day that big high street names including Marks & Spencer heavily discounted prices in a bid to stave off a meltdown in profits. Of the space, 26% was built in town centres. But the dominance of the out-of-town shopping centre was reinforced, with 42% of all floorspace built on what the CLG describes as ‘edge of centre locations defined by a buffer of 300m around the town centre'. The amount of floorspace built for retail business has, however, fallen by 40% since 1990. Figures for 2007 have not yet been published, but are expected to show a significant reduction against 2006, as developers began to scale down plans ahead of the expected economic downturn.