August tends to be a bad month what with folk going on holiday however there is a general vibe at the moment that more people could be learning to fly than is presently the case. The main problem from where I'm standing is that tax on fuel is the primary reason as this increases the cost of flying lessons beyond many peoples budget. Some rural airfields also appear to be under the watchful gaze of housing developers offering deals which your average landowner would find hard to refuse.
Also, the current aviation environment as affected by terrorism perhaps means that some folk simply do not think laterally when it comes to learning how to fly - the human mind works in strange ways, especially the non-aviation orientated mind, therefore people do not make the rational differentiation between flying as a passenger on an airliner and learning how to fly a light aircraft unless they're sufficiently interested. Remember that a good deal of new business for flying clubs comes via gift trial lessons and the person potenially buying a gift trial lesson for a loved one may have a rather jaundiced view of aviation as a result of terrorism and simply choose an hour in a Ferrari on a racetrack or some such thrill instead.
VFE.