The cost of driving lessons across Wales are becoming more expensive as a result of the massive rise in the cost of fuel. Driving instructors are having to make the tough decision to ask their learners to pay more for their lessons as a consequence of the prices of petrol and diesel, which have hit record highs as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to affect oil prices globally.
According to the RAC, at present, drivers are having to fork out, on average, 165.89 pence per litre of unleaded petrol, 176.76 pence per litre of diesel, and 177.68 pence per litre of super unleaded, with warnings that they are all "likely to rise". Haydn Balch, who runs Haydn Balch Driving School in the Swansea and Llanelli areas, explained how "everything is going through the roof."
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"It's a real struggle at the moment," he said. "I'm averaging £130 a week at the moment for fuel, and that doesn't factor in the other expenses like insurance, wear and tear, so prices have skyrocketed at the moment for lessons as well.
"It has a massive effect on everybody at the moment. It is a big impact over the month. I have increased the price of my lessons from £28 to £35 at the moment. Everybody is feeling the pinch at the moment, and mums and dads are struggling to find the money for lessons for their children. What I have noticed over the last week, week and a half, is that people are not calling up asking for lessons any more, they are calling to ask, what's your prices, rather than are you available.
"I think we're all struggling to be honest. We've just come out of lockdown and we haven't had an income for two years as such, and we were hoping that when we perhaps get back to a bit of normality we can start recouping some of the money, but we're just finding ourselves in a bigger hole again now. Because of the increase in price of the fuel, it means we have not been able to pay off the debts we have incurred during the lockdown. There has been a lot of meetings with other driving instructors in Swansea about prices and where do we go with prices.
"I don't advertise at the moment. I used to pay £200 a month for advertising but I've dropped that because I can't afford it. I'm having to rely on social media at the moment for my advertising. It is shaving off little things, trying to slimline everything I can possibly do, but it's hard running a road on the car as a business at the moment. Everything is going through the roof.
"With the prices as they are now, if the Government were to waiver some of their levies on fuel duties like they did in the pandemic, maybe that could help because we are one of the highest taxed on fuel. It would help small businesses like myself to overcome that at the moment."
Kevin King, of Kevin King School of Motoring in Pontypridd, agreed. He said: "It's been a big problem, for everybody I suppose, but it is difficult. I haven't put my prices up yet, but I will have to, because it is just not manageable with the rising costs.
"The biggest problems at the moment around here are the queues for petrol. I haven't heard there is going to be a shortage, but somebody somewhere must think so because you have to queue for petrol. My intention is early next week to budget it all, go through and just see how it's impacting. I'm waiting to see when it stops, because what I don't want to do is put my prices up, and then a few weeks down the line having to put them up again.
"I will give it a couple of a weeks, see what is going to happen, and how much it is going to go up by, but I am warning my students already that it is going to have to go up."
Mr King explained how he was "riding it out" at the moment, but that it was impacting on his spending power. He added: "My plan is probably April 1 I'll put my prices up, but I don't know how much yet. It'll probably be £3 or £4 an hour.
"It's hard, because driving lessons are not cheap, we all know that, but then again, there aren't many rich driving instructors around. Because we are self-employed, everything has to come out of that money before we can have a chunk of it. It is not like we are making a fortune, we are running close to the wind in a lot of cases. When you look at the cost of fuel, three quarters of it is tax. It seems to me fuel is unfairly taxed at the moment."
Owner of Whizz Automatic Driving School in Cardiff, Dee Pani, said he had not noticed a significant difference as of yet. "For me, it has not had a lot of an impact," he said. "I'm willing to put up with it, with the situation Ukraine is in, it's not an issue at all. I'm willing to pay more if they stop buying fuel off them (Russia).
"I haven't had to increase the price of my lessons as of yet, but if it goes up much more, I'll be thinking about it. I haven't noticed a big increase in the amount I'm spending so far. I fill up twice a week, every three, four days, and it's only gone up by four or five pounds. They could do a reduction on VAT on the fuel, that could help. I think that's the only way forward."
A year ago, the average petrol price stood at 122.50p a litre, while diesel was at 125.99p. Now petrol has reached the 160p threshold, on average, it will take the cost of filling up a typical family car with a 55-litre tank to a whopping £88.
The RAC has said that since February 13, there have been almost daily records being set for fuel prices as the threat of war in Ukraine loomed. These have contributed to a cost of living surge in the UK and helped to push inflation to a 30-year high. You can keep up to date with the biggest issues affecting Wales with our daily Wales Matters newsletters.
Owner of Top Tuition Driving School in Bridgend, Randal Phillips, said he felt that driving instructors had to "take the losses" at the moment due to the tough all-round financial situation, which also impacts on learners. He added: "The scenario you've got is, you put the price of the lessons up to cover the excess cost of fuel, but the people you are teaching to drive have had their income severed as well, so I would personally take the losses, and just be grateful It's tough times for everybody."
